MINNEAPOLIS—In response to the announcement of a "deal" between the United States and Mexico on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, IATP Executive Director Juliette Majot issued the following statement:



"Today's announcement that the United States has reached a separate trade deal with Mexico is misleading and is a transparent bullying tactic. Lacking important details and without Canadian participation, it is unclear that anything has really been concluded. The Trump administration's goal appears to be to bully Canada into a trade deal with unfavorable terms before next week's deadline to notify Congress in time for an agreement to be signed by outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. It is highly unlikely that a fair and improved NAFTA can emerge from these divide-and-conquer tactics and such a flawed, secretive process.



"Given the Trump administration's lack of adherence to existing international agreements, a handshake deal can hardly be seen as credible. What little has been released on agriculture makes the dubious assertion that U.S. farmers have benefited from NAFTA and, even worse, promises new rules to lock in the spread of agricultural biotechnology, which would favor agribusiness interests over those of family farmers in each of the three countries."