Trump says he is ‘not a big fan’ of USMCA, free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada he signed – live

Donald Trump told reporters in Paris on Wednesday that he is “not a big fan” of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade he signed in 2018, but was open to signing an extension of the pact known as the USMCA. “I would rather not have the agreement, but I may sign it,” Trump told reporters at Paris Orly airport on his way to dinner at Versailles. “We do ⁠better as a country if we don’t have an agreement,” he said, without explaining why, then, he had directed officials in his first term to strike the deal, and in his current term to work on an extension. “I’d rather have it terminated,” Trump added. Donald Trump signs the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), with Mexico’s then president, Enrique Pena Nieto, and Canada’s then prime minister, Justin Trudeau, in November 2018. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images The US has to approve a renewal of the existing agreement by 1 July, or announce its intention to exit the pact, a process that would take 10 years. US trade representatives are holding ‌talks with Mexico this week in Washington on agriculture and another set of talks is scheduled for the week of 20 July in Mexico City. US farmers are pressing Trump to extend the USMCA for another 16 years with duty-free farm products, ethanol access in Mexico and improved access to Canada’s largely closed dairy market. US automakers also want an extension. The six-year-old USMCA, which took effect in 2020, largely mirrored the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in sustaining a highly integrated North American economy, with nearly $1.6tn in annual trilateral trade.