Sen. Jeff Flake launched a campaign Wednesday in his home state of Arizona to build support for the North American Free Trade Agreement, a trade deal that President Trump says he wants to rip up if he can’t renegotiate a better deal for the U.S.
Mr. Flake released a video announcing the launch of NAFTA4AZ that will gather personal stories of Arizona residents who have benefited form the 23-year-old deal that created a free trade zone for the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Pleased to launch my #nafta4az initiative to gather personal stories from Arizonans positively impacted by #NAFTA https://t.co/E0jW1d6nAQ pic.twitter.com/YuoCBolafC
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) May 31, 2017
The Republican senator, who is a frequent critic of Mr. Trump, urged Arizona residents to participate, saying the state’s economy and “so many Arizona jobs [are] on the line.”
“If you’re an Arizonan who runs a family business, farms a field, works at a Fortune 500 company or even shops at the grocery store, odds are NAFTA’s had a positive economic impact on your life,” he said. “While Arizona has much to gain from modernizing and strengthening NAFTA, it is important that the administration hears from Arizonans on cross-border trade’s critical role in supporting jobs, opportunity, and economic growth in our state.”
NAFTA has been blamed for the rapid demise of American manufacturing as factors moved to lower-wage Mexico. Mr. Trump railed against the agreement in his campaign, and his opposition to NAFTA rallied Rust Belt supporters who where key to his upset victory in November.
However, NAFTA has boosted select industries such as agriculture and grown the economy, especially in border states such as Arizona.
Mr. Trump threatened to pull out of the agreement but decided to instead give renegotiation a chance. The process to rewrite the deal is underway in Congress.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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