NCTO welcomes Trump's decision to renegotiate NAFTA

Through renegotiations, “the United States seeks to support higher-paying jobs in the United States and to grow the US economy by improving US opportunities to trade with Canada and Mexico,” Lighthizer said in the letter sent to Congressional leadership.

“President Trump fulfilled one of his key promises to the American people. For years, politicians have called for the renegotiation of this agreement, but President Trump is the first to follow through with that promise,” said ambassador Lighthizer. “USTR will now continue consultations with Congress and American stakeholders to create an agreement that advances the interests of America’s workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses.” 

USTR will publish a notice in the Federal Register requesting public input on the direction, focus, and content of the negotiations for NAFTA, a trilateral free trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Reacting to the announcement, NCTO president and CEO Auggie Tantillo said, “The US textile industry welcomes President Trump’s decision to renegotiate NAFTA… It is in America’s national interest to modernise the agreement.”

“Let me be clear: NAFTA is vital to the prosperity of the US textile industry, and NCTO steadfastly supports continuing the agreement. With that said, NAFTA can be improved to incentivise more textile and apparel jobs and production in the United States, Canada, and Mexico,” Tantillo added.

“Eliminating loopholes that shift production to third-party countries like China and devoting more customs enforcement resources to stop illegal third-country trans-shipments are two changes that would make the agreement better,” he said. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India