High-profile trade pacts highlight Trump administration's month
President Donald Trump signs the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Wednesday on the White House South Lawn. Credit: Bloomberg / Oliver Contreras
Two high-profile trade ceremonies served as high points for the Trump administration in a rough opening month of the election year.
The preliminary pact with China, approved Jan. 15, is advertised as opening more Chinese markets to U.S. companies, increasing farm and fuel exports and easing some tariffs on Chinese goods while preserving most of them.
But circumstances of trade outside either government's control could undermine the goals of the initial pact.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday he does not know if China’s coronavirus outbreak will interfere with anticipated farm-goods purchases of $36.5 billion this year.
Other reported difficulties: Rival Brazil is harvesting a massive soybean crop, and Chinese demand for soybeans to feed livestock has fallen with a disease in pigs.
But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a television interview that he thinks the coronavirus "will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America."
"I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease," Ross said. "The fact is, it does give business yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain."
While China talks remain a contentious work in progress, President Donald Trump last week did get to sign a significantly modified version of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The new pact, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, was negotiated by key White House trade advisers Robert Lighthizer and Peter Navarro, and amended in Congress by House Democrats.
The rare bipartisan deal showed functionality by a branch of the White House against January's backdrop of stalled legislation amid an impeachment trial.
Trump said in prepared remarks: “For the first time in American history, we have replaced a disastrous trade deal that rewarded outsourcing with a truly fair and reciprocal trade deal that will keep jobs, wealth and growth right here in America."
The deal is touted as assisting U.S. dairy farming and various agricultural exports, and rolls back NAFTA's widely criticized arbitration system for corporations involved in cross-border trade.
Democrats were excluded from the signing ceremony.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
