Despite a previously rocky relationship between the Mexican government and the Trump administration, new trading deals have been discussed that seem to satisfy both countries. Trump has had a difficult relationship with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto due to Trump’s demands that Mexico pay for a border wall, yet it appears that negotiations have been made to continue a cordial trade relationship with Mexico. 

President Trump has been openly opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and so he is determined to create new trade deals during his presidency. In an effort to achieve this goal, he has negotiated a new trade agreement with Mexico and is in the process of negotiating with Canada. Due to the complicated and difficult relationship between the United States and Mexico, Canada has been waiting for the issues between the two countries to be sorted out before getting involved in the new trade agreement.

In this new trade agreement, Trump has addressed his fear for loss of American manufacturing jobs. According to Charles Wallace, in Forbes, “the agreement provides that 85 percent of parts in the car must be made in North America to be considered for tariff-free imports. The Trump Administration has been concerned that car parts from Europe and Asia, especially china, were being assembled in car in Mexico and then imported for sale in the United States.” This new trade agreement gives Mexico an incentive to use America car parts because it saves them money on tariffs. 

President Trump is always very confident about his decisions, yet some of his plans for this new trade agreement may not be possible. Trump wants to get rid of NAFTA completely and create his new trade agreement as the sole agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico. However, it is unclear whether this form of action can be implemented or will be allowed by Congress. He also feels so strongly about the trade agreement with Mexico that he has contemplated the idea of following through with the agreement even if Canada does not get involved. This is not a mind set that is agreed on by all members involved, though. Mexico has made it clear that the trade agreement must involve Canada and the US Congress has backed this opinion. Because of this, the trade agreement will not be complete until negotiations have successfully been made with Canada. There is, additionally, a time limit for the final negotiations to be made because López Obrador will likely attempt to make changes if the treaty is not completed before he assumes the presidency.

Currently, both the United States and Mexico stand to benefit from this trade agreement and the ability to negotiate between the two countries is a success in itself. However, there are still uncertainties about the future of the agreement and its success.