Nafta, the free-trade pact among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, came under constant, withering fire during the last presidential campaign, for being unfair to American companies and workers. Now, President Trump has initiated a renegotiation of the 23-year-old pact. Talks are underway, but it’s unclear in the early days of talks what a new Nafta will look like. On this episode, we’ll get some ideas from Eugene Laney, head of international trade affairs with DHL Express U.S. He talks about the need for negotiators to focus on trade harmonization and the removal of cross-border barriers. He also discusses how the parties might address the issue of digital trade flows, which wasn’t part of the original agreement. Can the digital trade provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, from which the U.S. has withdrawn, serve as a guide for Nafta negotiators? And what’s at stake if the talks don’t reach a conclusion that’s satisfactory to all parties? It could damage efforts to reach free-trade agreements with other countries in future. Hosted by Bob Bowman, Managing Editor of SupplyChainBrain.

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Show notes:

A Nafta summary from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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