Nafta is “at best an obsolete agreement” – US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, while speaking to Bloomberg TV said Nafta is “at best an obsolete agreement” and the parts of an Asia-Pacific trade deal rejected by the Trump administration could form the basis of a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement.

Key quotes

“There are some concessions that the Nafta partners made in connection with the proposed TPP, there is no reason to throw those away. We would view those as the starting point.”

As per the FT report, Mr. Ross also questioned Chinese president Xi Jinping’s ambitious “One Belt, One Road” project to revive the ancient Silk Road to Europe. “They are talking about the Silk Road and all that stuff. Those are concepts. Those are not trade agreements”, Ross said.

On trade deficit

“The president is in favour of increasing trade. He’s in favour of increasing our exports. He’s in favour of reducing trade barriers to other countries, but what he is not in favour of is just having endless meetings that get nowhere. Our trade deficit is far too serious to be just a debating society. It needs some action.”