The Trump administration is preparing new executive orders to re-examine all 14 U.S. free trade agreements and review government procurement policies to aid American companies, two administration officials said.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada will top the list of trade deals to be reviewed, which affect 20 countries from the Americas to Asia, the officials told Reuters. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the orders were still being developed.
They said on Wednesday that the trade deal and procurement review orders were among several executive actions that the Trump administration is preparing on trade. The timing of the orders is unclear, but they could start to be rolled out next week, the officials said.
The U.S. bilateral and multilateral trade deals cover these countries: Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore and South Korea.
The procurement review would be in line with Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" campaign push and could win some allies among Democrats in Congress. These include Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who urged the White House in a recent letter to exclude U.S. government contracts from NAFTA and restrict waivers that allow more foreign companies to bid on public procurements.
Reference: Reuters
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