--- title: President Trump Says He Will Soon Terminate NAFTA description: President Donald Trump said he would soon tell Congress of plans to terminate the existing North American Free Trade Agreement. canonical: https://time.com/5468902/president-trump-nafta-deal/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-02T17:07:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:16:26.612Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says He Will Soon Terminate NAFTA og:description: This would leave Congress with a choice between Trump's U.S.M.C.A, or no continental trade deal at all og:url: https://time.com/5468902/president-trump-nafta-deal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc13e5a77b114fa81/6989405efb4eac3d88898553/trump-nafta-g20-summit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3933 og:image:height: 2212 og:image:alt: trump-nafta-g20-summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says He Will Soon Terminate NAFTA twitter:description: This would leave Congress with a choice between Trump's U.S.M.C.A, or no continental trade deal at all twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc13e5a77b114fa81/6989405efb4eac3d88898553/trump-nafta-g20-summit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He Will Soon Terminate NAFTA > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=79bd878f-ea91-4bf7-86cc-cd3a33900a3b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Signs New Trade Pact With Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Signs New Trade Pact With Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexican President Pena Nieto](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/V6PPjaGq.m3u8) (3:39)  _Published 2018-11-30. President Trump joined the leaders of Canada and Mexico at a global meeting in Argentina on Friday to sign a revised North American trade pact, fulfilling a longstanding political promise with a deal he celebrated as a “groundbreaking achievement.”_ by [Jennifer Epstein, Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Jennifer Epstein, Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 2, 2018 5:07 PM UTC President Trump joined the leaders of Canada and Mexico at a global meeting in Argentina on Friday to sign a revised North American trade pact, fulfilling a longstanding political promise with a deal he celebrated as a “groundbreaking achievement.” by [Jennifer Epstein, Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Jennifer Epstein, Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 2, 2018 5:07 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said he would soon tell Congress of plans to terminate the existing North American Free Trade Agreement, a move that would give lawmakers a six-month window to ratify a new regional trade pact signed on Friday between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. “I will be formally terminating Nafta shortly,” Trump told reporters late Saturday aboard Air Force One as he returned from the Group of 20 summit in Argentina. “So Congress will have a choice” between the new deal, known as the U.S.M.C.A, or potentially no continental trade deal at all. The threat, if enacted, would effectively remove a safety net from under the new trade pact’s journey through Congress. Even though it was signed by leaders, the deal still needs to be ratified by lawmakers in the three countries. In the U.S., it will almost certainly be taken up by the next Congress, where Democrats will have a majority in the House starting in January. Some Democrats are warning they may not be satisfied by the terms. Speaking Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a fierce Nafta critic who has said he worked with the administration in re-negotiating the deal, didn’t answer how he’d vote on it but said “the work’s not done yet” and there’s still an opportunity to ask Mexico to strengthen labor requirements. ### Not Far Enough The deal doesn’t go far enough to protect the “dignity” of jobs and labor conditions and “doesn’t live up to the promise the president said of a renegotiated Nafta,” he said. Trump’s statement may also be a bluff — or prove harder than he thinks. Under terms of the existing 1994 Nafta pact, the president can give six-months’ notice of withdrawal, though it’s not binding. U.S. lawmakers have, however, said Congress would still need to repeal Nafta’s legislation to fully kill it. Click here to read highlights of the new U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade deal Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto signed an authorization for the deal on Friday morning in Argentina on the sidelines of the G-20, with their ministers signing it shortly after. Trump announced his intentions on Nafta hours after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping for dinner in Buenos Aires and reaching a truce in their escalating trade war. ### ‘A Disaster’ “We get rid of Nafta,” Trump said. “It’s been a disaster for the United States. It’s caused us tremendous amounts of unemployment and loss and company loss and everything else.” Some U.S. lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have called for changes to the new regional pact inked on Friday, though Trump’s trade czar has expressed confidence it will pass. “The negotiations are not going to be reopened, right? The agreement’s been signed. We still have to put together an implementing bill, so there are things that we can do,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters Friday in Buenos Aires. He said he was in talks already with Democrats, and appeared unfazed. “We’ll get the support of a lot of Democrats, a very high number of Democrats. Absolutely, just no doubt about it.” ### Pelosi View On Friday, Trump expressed optimism about getting the deal blessed by U.S. lawmakers. “I look forward to working with members of Congress,” he said. “It’s been so well reviewed I don’t expect to have much of a problem.” Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, called the agreement “a work in progress” in a statement released on Friday evening. “We are waiting to see enforcement provisions relating to workers and the environment,” she said. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office as Mexico’s president on Saturday; his Morena party, which with its allies holds a majority in Mexico’s Senate, could also seek revisions. Incoming Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, hosting a dinner for American visitors at Lopez Obrador’s inauguration, declined to comment on the news Saturday night. Trudeau has a majority in Canada’s House of Commons, leaving a clear path to pass a deal, but faces an election in October. ## Transcript I'm honored to be here with President Enrique Pena Nieto, become a great friend of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has also become a great friend. This has been a battle and battles sometimes make great friendships, so it's really terrific. These new provisions will benefit labor technology and development in each of our nations, leading to much greater growth and opportunity throughout our countries and across North America. In short, this is a model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever. I look forward to working with members of Congress. And the US MCA partners, and I want to say it's been very well reviewed, I don't expect to have very much of a problem. To ensure a complete implementation of our agreement. 24 years ago, NAFTA set a new benchmark for trade agreements back then. Today, US MCA [ UNKNOWN ] Is the [ UNKNOWN ] trade agreement that incorporates elements that address the social impact of international trade. It enables the participation of more sectors in the economy including the participation Of SMEs in regional trade. It extends the protection of workers' rights, strengthens the protection of the environment, and also includes a review clause that would make easier that the agreement is revamped more constantly. And this is A true sign of the will we have within this agreement, the decision to provide more and better opportunities to our people. Reaching a new free trade agreement with the Unted States and Mexico is a major step for our economy. Canadians got here Because team Canada was driven by the interests of the middle class. Free and fair trade leads to more and better paying middle class jobs for more people. As I discussed with President Trump a few days ago, the recent plant closures by General Motors which affects thousands of Canadian and American workers and their families. Our heavy blow. Make no mistake we will stand up for our workers and fight for their families and their communities. And Donald is more the reason why we need to keep working to remove the treason steel and aluminium between our countries. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Which is the one that passed. [ LAUGH ] Each of us gets a copy. Sounds very good, yes. [ NOISE ]. Okay, thank you very much everybody. [ APPLAUSE ] Nice, we'll hold that up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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