U.S. needs 'to take another look at NAFTA,' Christie says
U.S. needs 'to take another look at NAFTA,' Christie says
At COA’s 45th Washington Conference, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie expressed support for free trade deals but said the United States should revisit NAFTA, the trade partnership with Canada and Mexico.
Washington (CNN)New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie expressed support Tuesday for free trade deals but argued that the United States should revisit the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
Speaking at the 45th annual Washington Conference on the Americas, an event hosted at the State Department by the Council of the Americas, the Republican said he backs giving President Barack Obama trade promotion authority, which would let the President fast-track certain trade deals.
It's a rare issue on which Republicans largely agree with Obama, but Christie stressed that such authority also must come with "confidence in the people who are negotiating the agreements."
Christie also said the government needs "to take another look" at NAFTA, but did not go into specifics about what needs to be changed.
"It's been 20 years now since NAFTA was put into effect," he said. "We need to be talking to our neighbors about what the next generation of NAFTA will look like."
He suggested taking "a more continental approach" in terms of approaching the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, an agreement between the United States and the European Union....
