President Donald Trump vowed the “era of economic surrender is over,” but stopped short in his first State of the Union address of naming the targets of his efforts to narrow the U.S.’s ballooning trade deficit.
“America has also finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our nation’s wealth,” Trump said Tuesday in his remarks to Congress. “From now on, we expect trading relationships to be fair and to be reciprocal.”
The president promised to “fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones.”
In his speech, Trump vowed to protect American workers and intellectual property through strong enforcement of trade rules.
However, he didn’t mention any specific agreement by name. Negotiators this week wrapped up the sixth round of talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. is also seeking a revised deal with South Korea, with the second session of negotiations to start Wednesday in Seoul.
