Donald Trump is back at it again, and this time, he’s sharpening his focus on something he’s always had a knack for: renegotiating trade deals.
Fresh off an interview on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump laid out his bold vision to rework trade deals that he says have been a disaster for America. According to him, we’ve been “screwed” by everyone from Mexico to China, Canada, and the European Union. And, honestly, who’s surprised? Trump’s not exactly wrong here—these deals have been bleeding America dry for decades.
Trump pointed out that he included a re-negotiation clause in the USMCA, the trade deal that replaced the atrocious NAFTA. And honestly, who else but a businessman with his track record would have thought of that? He was quick to remind Bartiromo—and America—that he’s a “really good business person,” and you can’t help but agree when you look at the state of the economy under Biden compared to Trump’s time in office.
His plan is simple: fix what’s broken and bring jobs back home. Trump’s eyeing the auto industry, proposing a 200% tariff on Chinese auto imports coming from Mexico, which, as he put it, would make those cars “un-sellable” in the U.S. Now, that’s how you put America first. The man isn’t just talking about protecting the American worker; he’s actively planning on outmaneuvering foreign competitors who’ve been undercutting us for years.
Mexico, for example, has seen its share of U.S. auto parts imports jump from 38% to 42.5% between 2017 and 2023. That’s no accident—it’s a result of NAFTA-era policies that gave away the store. Trump is putting his foot down, saying it’s time to renegotiate, or as he bluntly said, “I want to make it a much better deal. I want to take advantage now of the car industry… So I put a clause in, the hardest clause I had with them was, I want to be able to see how it’s working, and I want to re-negotiate,” the former president expanded on Sunday.
“That’s the way it is. Either you do that, or I’m not going to make a deal, or… I didn’t mind not making a deal, by the way. The problem we had is NAFTA. We had to get rid of it. It had to get out. It was the worst deal,” Trump said. “Do you know, when they signed NAFTA many years ago, they made typos, and they made mistakes in the agreement that normally you would just sit back and change the following day. Nobody went back to change it. And it was things like numbers, you know, they put wrong numbers in… and nobody changed it for 30 years.” That’s the kind of hard-nosed negotiating Americans expect from someone who’s not afraid to walk away from the table.
Remember, this is the guy who made a great deal with Japan and South Korea, leveraging the fact that we have tens of thousands of soldiers stationed there to secure better terms for American workers. And when it came to Iran, Trump cut off their access to cash by playing hardball with China, telling them they couldn’t buy oil from Iran or face the consequences in U.S. markets. It worked—Trump left office with Iran on the ropes financially.
And let’s not forget the tariff talk. People love to scream about how tariffs are bad for inflation, but Trump knows how to use them as a strategic tool. Billionaire Howard Lutnick broke it down: tariffs aren’t about raising costs—they’re about making other countries play fair. Tariffs are how you bring jobs back to the U.S., build industries here, and make money in the process. It’s a win-win for American workers.
NEW: CNBC host verbally stunned after billionaire Howard Lutnick explains how Trump’s tariffs will be used as a negotiation tactic to make the U.S. a “bunch of money.”
Lutnick shot down the media narrative that tariffs would increase inflation.
“It’s a bargaining chip. We can’t… pic.twitter.com/J3MJakntYc
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 15, 2024
So, while Biden fumbles through his presidency, Trump is already laying the groundwork for a revitalized economy—one where America isn’t getting ripped off. Whether you like it or not, Trump knows how to make deals that work, and it’s clear he’s not done yet.
