Renegotiation, Not Withdrawal Is NAFTA 2.0 Focus: Treasury's Mnuchin

The Trump administration's first priority in the NAFTA 2.0 talks is to renegotiate and update the pact, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers last week, saying he was "cautiously hopeful" about that scenario as opposed to withdrawing from the trade pact as President Donald Trump has continued to talk about. "I don't want to go through the consequences [of withdrawal] because, again, that's not our first priority," Mnuchin told the House Ways & Means Committee. "Our priority is to renegotiate the deal, and, as I said, we are actively having discussions on this."Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) asked Mnuchin if the administration had a plan in place to start negotiating bilateral trade deals rather than multilateral deals. "This is one of the top issues we're meeting on constantly," Mnuchin said. "The president's priority is bilateral, but I think he is open-minded. In Davos, he commented that if we could renegotiate the [Trans-Pacific Partnership], he would consider going into [a] multilateral [deal]." The talks are poised to pick up again in Mexico February 25, a day earlier than the initial schedule for the next round to start February 26.