Looming Deadlines Explain Why Trump Is Hurrying for a Nafta Deal
- Trump said to want to announce framework Nafta deal next week
- Observers say it’s probably too late to pass in this Congress
Morgan Stanley's Zezas on the Future of Nafta
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The Trump administration is hoping to pull off a quick win for Nafta by aiming for a provisional pact as early as next week. A look at the political calendar explains why that’s all he’s likely to get.
Talks between the U.S., Canada and Mexico to revamp Nafta that started in August missed an initial end-2017 deadline, and have been moving slowly in 2018. But Donald Trump has been ramping up his trade agenda this year, and a conditional deal on Nafta 2.0 would be a victory for the president just months before midterm elections in Congress that will shape the rest of his term. American lawmakers and business groups want the U.S. to stay in the pact, which Trump has threatened to quit.