‘NAFTA 1.1’ — What’s In The New Trade Deal and What Would It Mean for Michigan?

“The United States got a little and Canada and Mexico gave a little,” says Dustin Walsh of Crain’s Detroit Business.

Jake Neher/WDET

Yesterday President Donald Trump announced an update to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The agreement will be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement—the president has been referring to it as the USMCA.

Most economists say the new agreement is very similar to the previous deal through NAFTA.

So what’s different and what remains the same?

Dustin Walsh is a reporter who covers the economy and trade for Crain’s Detroit Business.

Walsh joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson and speaks about the new agreement.

Walsh says that for the most part the USMCA is essentially an updated version of NAFTA.

“The things that are different are really that the United States got a little and Canada and Mexico gave a little,” he says.

Jobs have been a consistent talking point of the Trump administration—something the USMCA is supposed to generate.

Walsh sees it differently.

“(The USMCA) isn’t really a trade agreement that’s going to necessarily grow jobs, but it is somewhat protecting jobs,” he says. 

Click on the audio player for the full conversation. 

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    Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.