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Ohio Democrats Say Details Will Matter When It Comes to Rengotiating NAFTA

President Trump has called the deal negotiated by President Clinton 23 years ago a disaster.
WIKIMEDIA
President Trump has called the deal negotiated by President Clinton 23 years ago a disaster.
President Trump has called the deal negotiated by President Clinton 23 years ago a disaster.
Credit WIKIMEDIA
/
WIKIMEDIA
President Trump has called the deal negotiated by President Clinton 23 years ago a disaster.

Renegotiating NAFTA was a big selling point for Donald Trump with Ohio voters, and likely represents his best chance of getting Ohio Democratic support in Congress. 

The Trump administration has officially notified Congress that it plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement but is being vague about what changes will be negotiated. The notice came from Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade represenative and Ashtabula native.

Northeast Ohio Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan says the details will be crucial.

“I’m willing to work with the Trump administration if they’re willing to do this renegotiation to try to make these trade agreements to start work for the American people again.  And I hope he does it in a way that’s thoughtful because it’s a delicate situation. You could actually make things worse if you don’t do it properly.”

Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur says the renegotiated deal needs to include robust environmental and labor standards and must not “overtly favor corporations.”

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M.L. Schultze
M.L. Schultze came to WKSU as news director in July 2007 after 25 years at The Repository in Canton, where she was managing editor for nearly a decade. She’s now the digital editor and an award-winning reporter and analyst who has appeared on NPR, Here and Now and the TakeAway, as well as being a regular panelist on Ideas, the WVIZ public television's reporter roundtable.
Tim Rudell
Tim Rudell has worked in broadcasting and news since his student days at Kent State in the late 1960s and early 1970s (when he earned extra money as a stringer for UPI). He began full time in radio news in 1972 in his home town of Canton, OH.