Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured in RT Worldwide Satellite News Network Interview: 'As Trump Talks Protectionism, Germany Holds Talks With Mexico'
11 Jun, 2017 15:01
Rt.com
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/391861-merkel-mexico-nafta-trump/

To watch this interview aired initially over RT on June 19, 2017 with Abayomi Azikiwe just click on the website below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_vQxn3MTwY&t=10s

Merkel’s discussion with the Mexican president over NAFTA is an attempt to show Trump that they can cut deals outside the influence of Washington and Wall Street, Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire, says.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday for discussions on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a Clinton-era trade deal that has been called a “job killer” by US President Donald Trump, who threatened to quit the three-nation agreement.

Trump, who vowed to withdraw from NAFTA unless it is renegotiated in favor of the US, slammed Germany and Mexico, claiming that their gains come at the expense of US manufacturers.

RT: Merkel is clearly on the same page as Mexico on this, but can she really influence the NAFTA agreement. What leverage does she have?

Abayomi Azikiwe: Considering the current situation involving the strained relations between the Trump administration and the EU member states, I see this as an attempt for some type of economic trade realignment internationally. There has been a lot of criticism on the part of Trump and his supporters of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He wants to negotiate new terms for that agreement. And of course, at the recent G7 Summit, Trump indicated that the European powers were not necessarily carrying their weight in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; this upset a lot of European heads of state. I think this is an attempt to show Trump and his administration that they can cut deals outside the influence of Washington and Wall Street.

RT: How big a blow would this be to Germany if NAFTA is scrapped?

AA: I believe this is the actual nature of the discussions. They are not sure what real direction Trump is going in. Recently he announced the withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement, which, for many years the US had been unable to reach a climate agreement with other countries internationally. And last year the outgoing administration of Barack Obama was able to sign this agreement. So, they see Trump perhaps as someone who wants to disrupt the current international order and of course they are preparing for this eventual or possible inevitability of a rupture of relations between the United States and the European Union, as well as the United States and Mexico … Trump has called to institute more protectionist tariffs for goods produced outside of the US coming and being marketed inside the United States. So, this causes quite a bit of consternation in the international community, particularly among existing trading blocs, both in Latin America as well as in Europe.

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