Trump hails ‘historic’ Canada, Mexico trade pact

Donald Trump on Monday praised Canada’s entry into a reworked NAFTA pact with the United States and Mexico after the two countries forged a last-minute agreement.

The pact was to salvage the trilateral trade accord, which birth delivers a key win for the U.S. president.

The deal, announced on Sunday, helped preserve the nearly quarter-century old, 1.2 trillion dollars open-trade zone among the three North American neighbors.

Trump was thought to had long sought to rip up the accord as part of his vow to shake up global trade.

The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is aimed at bringing more jobs into the United States, a top Trump campaign pledge.

While it avoided tariffs, the deal will make it harder for global auto makers to build cars cheaply in Mexico.

It also preserved a trade dispute settlement mechanism by Canada to protect its industries from U.S. anti-dumping tariffs as Ottawa agreed to open up its dairy markets to U.S. farmers.

The United States and Mexico had already clinched a bilateral agreement in August. U.S. officials intend to sign the new trilateral deal at the end of November.

Thereafter, it would be submitted to the U.S. Congress for approval, according to a senior U.S. official.

Trump on Monday called U.S. agreement with its neighbour to the north “wonderful” and “a historic transaction.”

“It is a great deal for all three countries, solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA.

”It greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers and reduced Trade Barriers to the U.S.

”It will bring all the three Great Nations closer together in competition with the rest of the world,” Trump wrote on Twitter.