Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey heads to Mexico later this week in hopes of improving trade even as the president-elect seeks to rewrite the rules with the state’s number one trading partner.
Republican Donald Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement “the worst trade deal the U.S. has ever signed.”
But much of that cross-border business could disappear if NAFTA is terminated by the new administration, leading to new tariffs on Mexican goods being shipped to the U-S and similar duties on Arizona products headed south.
Ducey said Trump can lead the policy discussion, but can’t change it all by himself.
“I think the idea of free and fair trade is a real issue. The people have spoken on this. And if there's a way to improve that, then we can look at those issues. But that's not something that's done unilaterally,” Ducey said.
Ducey said for now, he’s concentrating on what can be done on this side of the border to ensure relations stay strong with the state’s number one trading partner by far.
“We built that relationship. We built that trade relationship. It's a positive relationship. And it's full steam ahead for us,” Ducey said.
He calls speculation on any proposed changes “premature.”
The governor will attend the annual cross-border winter meeting of the Arizona-Mexico Commission on Friday.