nafta
So, when Trump defends NAFTA in order to save American jobs at Smithfield, he’s also protecting Chinese corporate interests. By the way, the Smithfield sale also netted fabulous bonuses for the CEOs on both sides. Increasingly, that too has been the story of free trade. In the textbooks, trade is supposed to be an opportunity for the less well off to get a bigger piece of a growing global economy. In reality, however, free trade has been a driver of economic inequality.
![](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/twipd55.jpg?itok=t8e-TINt)
Featuring Mexico’s opportunity to update NAFTA and Cuba’s new agreement with Google.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Thursday about the NAFTA trade deal and agreed there was an opportunity to update the accord to the mutual benefit of all signatories, the Mexican government said. [...] "Finally, they agreed to remain in close contact to ensure the process of (NAFTA) modernization is successful for the benefit of both nations," Pena Nieto's office said.
Mexico and the United States enjoy one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world today, with profound implications for the prosperity, well-being and security of both nations. No country touches the daily lives of more Americans than Mexico, and no country touches the daily lives of more Mexicans than the United States. In the more than two decades since NAFTA’s approval, our two countries have been converging as societies and as economies.
Currently, President Peña Nieto and his entourage are being presented with an opportunity to redeem themselves. If they manage to get a good deal throughout this turmoil, they have the opportunity to mend Mexico’s international image–as well as their own.
![Photo reprinted courtesy of Presidencia de la Republica Mexicana via Flickr Entrega de Mando, by Presidencia de la Republica Mexicana](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/8234541638_c2c80f4eea_b%20%281%29.jpg?itok=IX4NCyfZ)
With the world watching the new U.S.-Mexico relationship, Mexico has an opportunity.
It will take much more than “xenophobia, irresponsibility and total disregard for facts” to derail the neighbors’ relationship, the former Mexican ambassador to Washington writes.
![Photo by Nancy L. Stockdale | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/2078665273_058cac66c9_o.jpg?itok=lsW7NMKQ)
This article takes a historical and theoretical approach to the application of paradiplomacy to foreign policy, citing examples such as Scotland, Catalonia and Quebec.