US strikes gentler tone on Nafta as talks countdown begins

It appears someone, somewhere, may have softened Donald Trump’s stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Specifically, Bloomberg claims new trade representative Robert Lighthizer has curtailed the chief’s plans to tear up the “disastrous” deal and instead renegotiate it. Serving notice to Congress on the administration’s plans to renegotiate, Mr Lighthizer said NAFTA had been a success for some industries, and that the US would prefer to keep the three-way deal with Canada and Mexico. One commentator suggested the letter indicated the new approach was to modernise a deal that was formed before the rise of the internet. While the new approach has drawn some commendations, others have said it lists few specifics and does not follow true to Mr Trump’s campaign promise to “tear it up”.