The Trump-hating media may want Americans to focus their attention on their parade of 24/7 “impeachable offenses,” but for anyone with an ounce of common sense, the real news is not with those we once entrusted to present it. Case in point is this week’s trade deal with Mexico.
President Trump won a major victory on trade Monday, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with something far more beneficial for, at this point, both the U.S. and Mexico. It is hoped Canada, the other NAFTA partner, will join the fray soon.
The new deal will help American workers and manufacturers. It’s also a big win for Mexico. The media’s portrayal of Mexico hating Donald Trump appears to more “fake news,” as the president puts it.
Trump promised during his run for the White House to fix America’s trade agreements. He called them “deeply flawed.” Last year, the US had a huge $71 billion trade deficit with Mexico. That was largely attributed to Mexico’s lower worker wage scale.
The new deal will limit Mexico’s ability to take U.S. manufacturing jobs by underpaying workers. It will also increase the percentages of a car that must be made in North America to qualify for a lower-tariff import into the US.
These new rules will benefit American auto workers immensely. It will also be a boon to that industry’s domestic supply chain. But most importantly, it vindicates Trump and his fierce approach to trade with our so-called trading “allies.” It is no secret that the agreements reached over the past few decades have been a huge disadvantage to American workers.
Trump’s approach has been a unilateral imposition of tariffs to get foreign governments to negotiate seriously. He is aware of the huge advantage America has if such a trade war occurred. Our “allies” are just as aware.
Monday was an unmitigated victory for the president’s approach. He knows we buy more from them than vice-versa. That gives the US far more power in skilled trade negotiations. Most countries Trump has targeted for fairer deals can ill-afford to lose access to our $20 trillion economy.
The president is simply leveling the playing field. While the media uses nonsensical words to describe his strategy as “rude” or “insensitive,” Trump knows this is not some encounter group he is conducting. Unlike recent presidents, he is moving forward full throttle ignoring any political fallout, but rather the benefits it produces for the economy and workers.
Next on the president’s agenda is the left-wing government of Canada; the other member of NAFTA. Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has derided Trump on more than one occasion. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a young and inexperienced leader, may find out quickly he is dealing with a shrewd and very rich businessman.
Canada basically has no choice but to deal in earnest with Trump. He already has said he is more than willing to leave Canada out of the new “NAFTA” deal. He again vowed to raise car tariffs on Canada if it refuses to revise unfair levies of nearly 300 percent on some American goods, among other unfair practices.
The entire process is an obvious road map for Trump that eventually leads straight to his toughest trade partner, China. Next is Canada, followed by the European Union.
Europe last year had a $151 billion surplus with the USA. That doesn’t even include the many European countries decades behind in their committed payments to NATO. The worst offender is Germany, one of the world’s most export-dependent major economies.
Lastly will come China. They are utterly dependent on selling goods to the US. But part of Trump’s talks with them will most certainly include their theft of our intellectual property that is in the hundreds of billions. Those who think China will triumph in those future talks are either poorly informed of the parameters or merely Trump-haters.
Trump is positioned perfectly at this time for the midterm elections. A booming economy, low unemployment and over 60 percent of his campaign promises fulfilled. He has delivered in plenty of time for him to tout them in the months before the election.
