Inside Story

Is the new trade deal replacing NAFTA a win-win-win situation?

A new trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement.

US President Donald Trump has described the signing of a new free trade deal with Mexico and Canada as signalling “a new dawn” for Americans and the return of the country as a “manufacturing powerhouse”.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) updates and replaces the nearly 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump had labelled a disaster and promised to cancel.

After more than a year of talks and six weeks of intense discussions, the Canadian and US governments were able to overcome their differences late on Sunday with both sides conceding some ground.

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Chris Garcia – CEO of Vicar Financial and former deputy director at the US Department of Commerce under President Trump

Colin Robertson – Former Canadian diplomat who was part of the team that negotiated the original NAFTA deal in 1994

Fernando Gonzalez-Rojas – Professor of International Trade at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.

Editor’s note: This episode of Inside Story originally aired on October 1.