Commerce secretary: No decision yet on NAFTA replacement

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Sunday said his department is still working on a trade deal that will ultimately replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“We haven’t made a decision yet as to whether the form should be the continuation of a trilateral, which it is now, or two parallel and symmetrical bilaterals,” he told Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “Right now we’re thinking about substance rather than form.” 

President Trump during his presidential campaign railed against trade deals, including NAFTA, arguing they sent jobs abroad and hurt American workers. NAFTA, the existing trade treaty between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has been in place since 1994.

{mosads}Ross emphasized the need not just for “fair trade” among the North American countries, but also “fair free trade.”

“You’ll find anything to do with trade is infinitely complicated because one size doesn’t fit all,” Ross said.

“The issues of automotive are not the same as the issues of agriculture; they’re not the same as the issues of electronics, or steel. It’s a very, very complicated situation. So it’s very hard to paint just with one big broad brush.”