{"text":[[{"start":11.15,"text":"The Trump administration will not renew its 2020 trade deal with Canada and Mexico, casting new doubt on the future of an agreement that had been a bedrock of commerce between the US and its neighbours."}],[{"start":23.450000000000003,"text":"US trade representative Jamieson Greer made the announcement on Wednesday after holding a meeting with Canadian and Mexican counterparts to discuss the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, struck by President Donald Trump in his first term. "}],[{"start":37.900000000000006,"text":"“The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed,” Greer said in a statement afterwards."}],[{"start":47.45,"text":"A US official later said Trump “chose not to rubber-stamp the USMCA renewal without addressing existing issues”. "}],[{"start":55.400000000000006,"text":"Washington will now enter into a potentially protracted multiyear renegotiation process with two of its top three largest trading partners, triggering uncertainty over the future of the deal for more than $1.5tn worth of annual trade. "}],[{"start":69.25,"text":"The decision not to renew the agreement comes as a new poll shows that nearly three-quarters of US voters believe the pact is good for the economy."}],[{"start":77.5,"text":"A survey of voters by Public Opinion Strategies, on behalf of the trade group Global Business Alliance, found that 72 per cent of respondents backed the deal, including two-thirds of Republicans and three-quarters of Democrats."}],[{"start":90.6,"text":"The majority of voters also agreed that the deal, which covers almost all trade between the US and two of its top three largest trading partners, helped create US jobs and lower prices for American consumers."}],[{"start":103.64999999999999,"text":"The polling shows that many voters support deals facilitating lower tariffs, even as Trump heads into the midterm elections having waged a global trade war and boosted US levies on its allies to a level not seen for decades."}],[{"start":118.35,"text":"But the polling, which was carried out for a business group representing the US subsidiaries of foreign companies, stands at odds with American unions, who have complained that the current trade deal needs to be renegotiated to better protect US workers. "}],[{"start":133.2,"text":"Both the powerful United Auto Workers union and the United Steelworkers have said that the agreement needs to include stronger protections for workers in all three countries and better incentives for companies to create US jobs, rather than offshoring manufacturing to Mexico. "}],[{"start":148.2,"text":"“There is no way back to the American dream without undoing the damage of Nafta (the North American Free Trade Agreement) and its successor, the USMCA,” said UAW president Shawn Fain. “There is no future for the US working class that doesn’t address the free trade disaster.”"}],[{"start":166.45,"text":"The UAW said it was calling for a “dramatic transformation” of the current deal. "}],[{"start":172.1,"text":"United Steelworkers president Roxanne Brown said the USMCA deal had been an opportunity to improve wages in Mexico and “help end the race to the bottom that ensnared workers across North America” but that it had “fallen short”."}],[{"start":186.9,"text":"But Jonathan Samford, chief executive of the Global Business Alliance, said the deal was “one of the most powerful tools the United States has to attract global capital, strengthen supply chains, expand manufacturing and create good-paying American jobs”."}],[{"start":202.8,"text":"“At the agreement’s core are clear, stable rules that give international companies the confidence to invest, manufacture and hire here,” said Samford. “That predictability is a competitive advantage worth urgently reaffirming.”"}],[{"start":218.85000000000002,"text":"The Business Roundtable, a lobbying group representing the chief executives of America’s largest companies, said in a statement that the USMCA deal had “delivered significant economic benefits for the United States” and supported more than 13mn American jobs."}],[{"start":234.75000000000003,"text":"“As the agreement reaches this important milestone, the three governments can better align policies against unfair trading practices, reduce regulatory and economic friction within the region, and ensure North America is better positioned to compete with non-market economies,” said BRT chief executive Joshua Bolten. "}],[{"start":253.25000000000003,"text":"Mexico’s economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said the three countries could come to a new agreement at any time in the next decade to extend it for a further 16 years. He added that the three nations were aiming to resolve the issues in a “reasonable” timeframe. "}],[{"start":268.75,"text":"“We’re not in a rush but we also don’t want uncertainty.”"}],[{"start":272.8,"text":"Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for trade with the US, said Canada retained its “unwavering support” for the USMCA, which “supports millions of jobs across North America and ensures Canadian businesses retain secure and predictable access to two of our most important trading partners”."}],[{"start":291.75,"text":"A US official said Washington did not “have an interest . . . [for talks] to drag on for 10 years” and would “try to come to a conclusion quickly”. "}],[{"start":300.8,"text":"The official added that the administration would only return the deal to Congress to approve changes if a US law needed to be altered as a result of the talks. "}],[{"start":316.05,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782968060_8283.mp3"}