Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is warning President Trump that he has no authority to unilaterally pull the U.S. out of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Toomey said he and other Republicans in Congress won’t allow Mr. Trump to bully them into abandoning NAFTA.
“To pressure us into voting for an agreement that diminishes free trade, some in the administration suggest offering a grim choice: either approve a diminished NAFTA, or the president will unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from the existing NAFTA, leaving no NAFTA at all,” Mr. Toomey wrote.
He added, “If presented with this ultimatum, I will vote ’no,’ urge my colleagues to do likewise, and oppose any effort by the administration to withdraw unilaterally.”
The president has been pushing to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico, saying he wants more favorable terms that will help U.S. manufacturers and bring jobs back to the U.S.
Mr. Toomey said Congress controls trade policy, and there’s nothing in the law allowing a president to withdraw from the trade agreement.
“A president can no more repeal NAFTA than he can repeal ObamaCare or create a new NAFTA without Congress’s approval,” he wrote.
Mr. Trump, asked Friday during a meeting with automakers whether he was worried about NAFTA’s impact on the industry, said the negotiations aren’t done.
“We’ll see what happen,” the president said. “I’ve never been a NAFTA fan as you know. NAFTA has been a terrible deal.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.