NEC's Kudlow Echoing Trump on Splitting NAFTA

President Donald Trump is now "seriously considering" splitting the NAFTA 2.0 talks into individual discussions with Mexico and Canada, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told Fox News.The comments from Kudlow came as Trump again talked Monday of splitting the trade deal into separate packages, something he has mentioned in the past. Kudlow said that Trump has asked him to discuss the possibility of moving the talks to bilaterals instead of the current three-way discussions.However, trade observers note that such a strategy would require several actions first, including the U.S. exiting NAFTA, something which has not yet happened. But some trade policy experts are not dismissing bilateral accords discussed while the current NAFTA is still in place.Trump does not intend to withdraw from NAFTA, Kudlow said on Fox & Friends. But after more than one year of multilateral discussions, he feels the current approach has not been fruitful and a new one is needed, Kudlow said."His preference now — and he asked me to convey this — is to actually negotiate with Mexico and Canada separately," Kudlow said. "He prefers bilateral negotiations."