Why Donald Trump Decided to Back Off Nafta Threat

Wall Street Journal ^ | April 27, 2017 | Peter.Nicholas, Paul Vieira and José de Córdoba

[indcons]

I still don’t understand how a 1st world country and the world’s strongest economy runs a $60 Billion trade deficit with a 3rd world country like Mexico. Something doesn’t compute (and I ain’t talking about the math)

[Alberta's Child]

I could easily see that happening. Mexico has basically replaced the South as our "slave states." We simply buy a lot more things from them than we sell them -- mainly because most Mexicans can't afford to buy most of the things we produce here in the U.S.

Adding oil to the mix tips the balance even further in Mexico's favor. In the late 1990s Mexico and Canada both surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest foreign sources of oil for the U.S.

[indcons]

Thanks for that explanation - especially on oil import.

Do remits by illegals (30bil/year) ever get calculated? Add to that the costs of free services, welfare, etc for Mexican citizens in the US and I’d guess that would increase the current deficit even further?

[RedWulf]

Sounds more like Trump threaten to walk if they wouldn’t make a deal so they made a deal with him. I do similar stuff when buying a car.