Trump could use a history lesson on NAFTA
SAN DIEGO -- President Trump is an expert on some things. The North American Free Trade Agreement is not one of them.
He understands human nature better than most. He knows how we like to blame our problems on external forces, how indifferent the elites can be to working-class struggles, and the strain that immigration and trade can place on low-skilled American workers who feel besieged and displaced. He also understands how to cynically mix together those ingredients, add a dash of fear with racial undertones, and whip up a magic stew capable of transporting a carnival barker to the White House.
But the president has much to learn about the history of NAFTA.
He'd better study up fast. Last week, the Trump administration formally notified Congress of its intent to renegotiate the agreement. While it's unlikely that Americans will ever see a brick-and-mortar wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump is well on his way to keeping at least one campaign promise.
In a letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that the administration wants NAFTA to be "modernized."
I'm worried that "modernized" is Trump-speak for "gutted."
Now, the meter is running. In less than 90 days, the United States can start renegotiating the agreement with its partners -- Mexico and Canada. The idea is for Congress and the White House to spend these next three months conferring about how to change NAFTA in order to benefit American workers.
Trump is convinced -- probably because he says it so often -- that NAFTA is unfair to Americans. He has it backward.
NAFTA should in fact be renegotiated -- because it has traditionally been unfair to Mexicans. The truth is that, in the past, the trade agreement has been unfair to Mexicans.
Consider the illuminating example of Mexican trucks, which were largely kept off U.S. roadways -- in violation of NAFTA -- during much of the Clinton and Obama years.
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