Killing free trade would hurt U.S. middle class, Trudeau tells Chicago crowd
CHICAGO — President Donald Trump’s threat to tear up the North American free trade pact would cause economic suffering in the United States in a decision that would also be terrible politics, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.
Millions of American workers would be harmed, and their lives disrupted in the short-term through a thickening of the border and greater uncertainty, even if Canada and the United States can finalize a deal down the road, he said.
Trudeau said that Canadians are rightly nervous that NAFTA will be torn up — a repeated threat Trump has made over successive rounds of talks between Canada, the United States and Mexico — and what it would mean for jobs on both sides of the border.
“Even if theoretically there is a better opportunity for a long-term deal, in the short-term that’s a lot of families out of work (and) suffering in a way that I think would be far worse politically,” Trudeau said during an event at the University of Chicago.