Kudlow: New trade deals should boost economic growth by half percentage point

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday that the Trump administration’s new trade deals should boost U.S. economic growth by half of a percentage point.

Kudlow told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’s  “Sunday Morning Futures” that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the first phase of the China trade agreement exemplify the White House’s “pro-growth” priorities. 

“I think that … these trade deals are going to be very helpful,” he said. “They’re going to reduce uncertainty and probably pick up some important business investment spending.”

Kudlow: The President is a tough negotiator and it is working for Americans https://t.co/npYaevAYtf @SundayFutures @FoxNews @larry_kudlow

— Maria Bartiromo (@MariaBartiromo) December 15, 2019

Kudlow said the trade deals with Mexico, Canada and China cover more than $2 trillion dollars worth of trading activity.

He added that he thinks the USMCA will pass “handily.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Trump came to an agreement on the USMCA last week after working on it for months, as the impeachment inquiry loomed in the background. Trump and Chinese officials also announced a “phase one” trade deal Friday.

Kudlow also praised President Trump’s strategy of being aggressive in trading agreements. 

“Not only is this positive for economic  growth, but it does show that President Trump’s example of being a tough, hard-nosed bargainer on trade an economic matters works,” he told Bartiromo.