NAFTA: U.S. hasn’t done analysis on what happens if free-trade treaty ends
WASHINGTON — American policy-makers admit they have not worked to analyze the economic impact of the end of the North American Free Trade Agreement, even as President Donald Trump threatens to cancel the agreement.
That absence of research applies to both elected branches of the U.S. government: neither the White House nor congressional researchers have an impact assessment, despite uncertainty over the fate of the 23-year-old pact.
Frustrations at the bargaining table exploded into the open at the last round where the most common conversation topic in the hallways involved whether Trump’s team was intentionally trying to sabotage a deal.
A research unit for Congress, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which performs studies for lawmakers, tells The Canadian Press that it has in the past conducted analysis on international issues like the monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program, but nobody has yet requested research on NAFTA.