Labor leader: Clinton told me NAFTA should be renegotiated

The leader of the United Auto Workers (UAW) says he has heard directly from Hillary Clinton that she wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to Reuters.

That position, relayed by UAW President Dennis Williams, would put Clinton in line with her general election opponent, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has said he would withdraw from the trade pact if Canada and Mexico refused to renegotiate. He has called NAFTA “the worst trade deal in history.”

{mosads}NAFTA was negotiated by President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s husband, and has become a flashpoint in an election year where anti-trade sentiment is running high.

Hillary Clinton has moved to the left on trade during the primaries, also coming out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after expressing support for it as secretary of State. The TPP was negotiated by the Obama administration but has yet to receive a vote in Congress. Like Clinton, Trump opposes the deal.

In 2003, Clinton argued in favor of NAFTA, stating that it will expand exports and create jobs. 

“Creating a free trade zone in North America — the largest free trade zone in the world — would expand U.S. exports, create jobs and ensure that our economy was reaping the benefits, not the burdens, of globalization. Although unpopular with labor unions, expanding trade opportunities was an important administration goal,” the presumptive Democratic nominee said.

Clinton’s rhetoric on NAFTA has shifted over the years — something that Obama was quick to point out during their primary battle in 2008.

“But the fact is, she was saying great things about NAFTA until she started running for president. A couple years after it passed, she said NAFTA was a ‘free and fair trade agreement’ and that it was ‘proving its worth.’ And in 2004, she said, ‘I think, on balance, NAFTA has been good for New York state and America,'” Obama said.