“I couldn’t tell whether that was a strategy or just a miscue inside the White House,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said of the reversal.
Trump has ratcheted up his trade tactics in recent days, slapping a 20-percent tariff on softwood lumber imports from Canada and warning that he will not tolerate what he says is unfair treatment of American dairy imports.
But the tough talk is making his allies in Congress nervous because Canada and Mexico, the two other signatories to NAFTA, buy billions of dollars in American goods.
“As far as any renegotiation you have to be careful to make sure you’re going to get a better deal for our farmers who rely on exports, our manufacturers and others,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), whose home state borders Canada and exports corn and dry beans to Mexico.
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