Good day,
Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, an architect of NAFTA’s forerunner, said the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement “will prevail” despite President Trump’s new tariffs on Mexico.
“All I know is that it’s indispensable,” Mulroney said during the Journal of Commerce’s Canada Trade conference in Toronto on June 4. Mulroney, who served as prime minister from 1984 to 1993, presided over the 1988 United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement, which NAFTA replaced.
Mulroney suggested that all three countries should look at expanding the free-trade umbrella to the rest of the Americas. He revisited the long-simmering proposed Free-Trade Area of the Americas, which includes 34 countries, except Cuba.
“This would be the richest trade agreement in history,” Mulroney said.
Did you know?
The brown marmorated stink bug can fly up to three miles. Named for its pungent odor, the insect is also known to travel on trucks and cargo ships. In Australia, the bugs recently struck the shipping industry and stretched the country’s border biosecurity system to its limits.
Quotable:
“There isn’t a way to avoid the tariffs.”
– Matt Silver, CEO of Forager Logistics, on the newly announced U.S. tariffs in Mexican goods.
In Other News:
Trucking provisions remain in spending bill
The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee rejected an amendment to eliminate three trucking safety provisions from a spending bill covering transportation, housing and urban development. (Land Line)
Penske Logistics opens new distribution center
Penske Logistics opened a new $98.5 million food distribution facility near Detroit. (Crains Detroit Business)
TForce, CFI launch expanded integrated final-mile service
TFI International’s U.S.-based TForce and CFI companies have expanded their integrated final-mile services. (TForce Blog)
Seventeen missing after cargo ship sinks near Indonesia
Seventeen of 18 crew members were missing after a cargo ship sank off the coast of Indonesia. (Yahoo News)
Trucker pleads guilty to crash that killed three
A Mississippi truck driver pleaded guilty to an alcohol-related crash that killed three people, including an infant, in Pennsylvania. (Penn Live)
Final Thoughts:
The Free-Trade Area of the Americas first emerged in 1994 after NAFTA’s adoption. It seems like a non-starter in the era of protectionism and Trump. Food for thought: one of the proposal’s fiercest critics was Hugo Chavez, the late socialist leader of Venezuela, who called it a vehicle for U.S. imperialism.
Hammer down everyone!