NAFTA Re-negotiations Begin Wednesday, Kaptur Pressures Trump

AVON, OH — Re-negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) begin Wednesday. The dean of the Ohio delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives Marcy Kaptur, Democrat, OH-9, has been pressuring President Donald Trump to fulfill some of his campaign promises and to create a new deal that uplifts American workers.

“For many of us, this day has been more than two decades in the making, and I urge President Trump not to let workers in Ohio and across our heartland down,” said Kaptur in a statement. “This is no time for politics or pandering to corporations and special interests. America needs a continental compact that lifts up workers on all sides of the border, raises wages and balances U.S. trade accounts.”

Kaptur has been lobbying aggressively for Trump and his administration to curb illegal steel dumping, which she says has crippled Lorain and other steel-dependent towns. She recently wrote a letter chastising Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for delaying the investigation into steel dumping practices by foreign countries.

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In June, Democrats, including Kaptur, sent a list of priorities that they believed should be incorporated into the renegotiated NAFTA. Those priorities included:

• Create clear paths for closing U.S. trade deficits with other nations
• Requirements that foreign producers meet U.S. safety standards
• Enforceable punishments for currency manipulations
• High labor and environmental standards

The full letter can be read here.

During his 2016 campaign, President Donald Trump threatened to pull out of NAFTA and said he would pull the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Shortly after taking office, Trump said he would instead re-negotiate NAFTA.

Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images News/Getty Images