“It is now critical that Canada be included in the negotiations and that a new trilateral agreement be reached to update and modernize the NAFTA,” said the institute’s president and chief executive, Thomas J. Gibson.  

The statement followed the administration’s announcement Monday that the U.S. and Mexico have reached a preliminary trade agreement.  

Gibson said the agreement is an “important first step” to preserve the robust trade and investment allowed for by NAFTA, but he said it is critical that Canada be included. Gibson also said NAFTA has been a positive for the steel industry. 

“It has resulted in increased U.S. steel exports to Mexico and Canada, strengthened manufacturing supply chains, especially with key customer groups like the automotive industry, and has resulted in a stronger relationship with Canada and Mexico which has been beneficial in working together on the ongoing global steel overcapacity crisis,” Gibson said. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the new agreement revises the rules governing the cross-border manufacturing of vehicles and aims to increase the amount of regional steel that is used in those vehicles. 

“U.S. officials said the deal would also beef up regional content requirements for chemicals, steel intensive products and other industrial materials,” The Journal reported. 

Discussing the deal on Monday, Trump said it remains to be seen whether the U.S. strikes a trilateral that includes Canada. 

“We will see whether or not we decide to put up Canada or just do a separate deal with Canada, if they want to make the deal,” Trump said. 

You can read more from The Journal here. The White House announcement and the full transcript of Trump’s comments are here and here.