Trump Threatens to Undo Nafta’s Auto Alley

In his first week in office, President Trump made good on his campaign promise to overhaul U.S. trade policy. On Jan. 23 he signed a memorandum to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and made clear his desire to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

The next day Trump summoned executives from the Big Three U.S. automakers, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and General Motors, to the White House. He set the tone with a tweet saying he wants “new plants to be built here for cars sold here.” It’s impossible to know what benefits may have been lost with TPP, which died before it ever came into force. What is certain, however, is that Nafta has benefited the auto industry in North America, and unraveling it may cut more jobs than it brings back.