Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 11, 2017
As Trudeau heads to Washington, Trump again muses that ‘NAFTA will have to be terminated’
As he prepares to welcome Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump is musing again about terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
July 17, 2017
“I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we’re going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can’t negotiate a good deal,” Trump told Forbes magazine in an interview published Tuesday.
“(The Trans-Pacific Partnership) would have been a large-scale version of NAFTA. It would have been a disaster. It’s a great honour to have — I consider that a great accomplishment, stopping that. And there are many people that agree with me. I like bilateral deals.”
Trump is scheduled to meet with Trudeau at the White House on Wednesday, the same day the fourth round of NAFTA renegotiation talks will begin in a Washington suburb.
August 24, 2017
Trump has threatened to terminate NAFTA on several numerous occasions, appearing to see such threats as a useful negotiating tactic.
The latest remark was slightly different. In the past, he has usually said he will cancel the agreement if the U.S. cannot secure a good deal. This time, he suggested that a good deal can only be secured after a cancellation.
Canadian officials have brushed off the Trump administration’s previous harsh rhetoric, saying such words are inevitable in any trade negotiation. And Trump has frequently declined to act on his musings about trade and other subjects.
Trump spoke amid growing concern that the negotiations could be headed for failure because of the Trump administration’s positions. The fourth round, scheduled to run Wednesday to Sunday, is seen as a crucial test of the level of U.S. interest in reaching an amended deal. (Source: Toronto Star)
Letter to the editor (October 18)
RE: Oct. 11 Hamilton Spectator editorial cartoon
The price for disobeying your elders
Mr. Mackay’s cartoon shows what happens when immature manic leader of the entitled millennials tries to outplay his fatherly opponent. Lack of respect for seniors wisdom of maturity and elder persuasion at any time eventually gets the results that are duly deserved.
As a member of a 212-year old immigrant family from the U.S. that was asked to leave over concerns of loyalty for the USA, I would venture that Mr. Trudeau and his team have fumbled the ball on the goal-line, mainly because of he and his father’s socialistic communist attitude toward answers for all things.
This is bankrupting Canada and its neighbour’s ability to support and defend it and is deserving of the cards that have been dealt!
Larry Pedlar, Burlington