Corporations need not worry President-elect Donald Trump will start a trade war with Canada, Mexico and other countries, a senior transition official says.
"I don't think we're looking to rip up NAFTA as much as we are looking to right-size it and make it fairer," Anthony Scaramucci told a group of leaders of the bipartisan group No Labels, The Hill reported, quoting a CNN story.
"He's got a great relationship, by the way, with the Mexican president; they talk regularly," Scaramucci said. "I don't think anybody in the administration from the top to the bottom is looking for protectionism. We understand the economic harm, and the impact that would take."
Trump slammed NAFTA and other trade deals during his campaign saying they should be renegotiated or terminated. He suggested tariffs on imports from countries that do not deal fairly with the United States, but Scaramucci suggested that is more negotiating tool than promise.
"I don't think anybody in the administration is looking for quote-unquote tariffs, but I think they are a cudgel, if you will, to lay out there if we can't get the trade deals to be right-sided to now benefit the American people," Scaramucci said. "Things get snippeted a certain way in the media, and they get framed a certain way that he's a protectionist, and he's against trade. I can state categorically that if he were standing here right now, he'd tell you that he's a free trader."
John Engler, who leads Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs from America's largest companies, told The Hill that Scaramucci's words were "very consistent with what they've been saying."
"There's been a lot of conversation, but I think they have actually been quite consistent about trade," Engler said. "They're very committed to trade. They want different deals, they think they can get better deals."
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