After all the NAFTA-bashing during the Presidential campaign, I've been very interested in seeing what exactly President-Elect Obama has planned for NAFTA. This may be a first glimpse:
After he becomes president in January, Obama will order a study on the world’s largest trade agreement, then seek longer- term negotiations with Mexico and Canada on how to change it, according to three advisers, who spoke on condition that they not be identified.
This seems like a sensible approach. Having promised to do something about NAFTA, he can't just ignore it. On the other hand, using the "hammer" of the opt-out, as he referred to during the campaign, would probably not be the best approach diplomatically. Doing a study of the issue first, then taking a long-term approach, sounds reasonable. Ultimately, it may be that the Obama team only requests minor tweaks, for example to the labor and environment provisions, so as to bring NAFTA in line with the current FTA model.
