President Trump announces U.S. Mexico free-trade agreement

Posted by:  Channel 8 Eyewitness News
8@klkntv.com

Source:  ABC News: 

After months of negotiations, President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States and Mexico have come to an agreement on revisions to key parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — a trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"It’s a big day for trade. It’s a big day for our country," Trump said.

Trade negotiations with Canada are still ongoing. "We’ll see if Canada can be part of the deal," he said. Trump cast the agreement as the United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement, saying he wanted to do away with the NAFTA name because it had "bad connotations."

It’s unclear if Trump intends to keep the trilateral framework in place. The president said he’s also open to a separate deal with Canada, and said he will terminate the existing NAFTA agreement once there is a deal with both countries. Any changes to NAFTA would require congressional approval before taking effect.

During the announcement, the president of Mexico phoned in on speakerphone, congratulating the negotiators on both sides.

Trump, who has had a strained relationship with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto over his demands that Mexico pay for a border wall, cited "closer" ties to America’s southern neighbor on Saturday. 

Trump said this is a great deal for American Farmers and Mexico agreed to start buying farm products immediately.