NAFTA benefits Canada more than the US, Agriculture Secretary says

President Donald Trump welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House on Wednesday to discuss a variety of topics including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue believes that President Trump will be able to negotiate a better deal on NAFTA.

“I think again some of these deals have lacked enforcement. So I think the president is sending a message. He's serious about trade deficits. He's serious about keeping jobs in the U.S.,” he told FOX Business’ Trish Regan on “The Intelligence Report.”

Perdue explained why NAFTA benefits Canada more than it does the U.S.

“The irritants that we have are primarily with Canada over their dairy management supply program they are over producing creating depressing world prices for milk solids. There is also a wine issue in British Columbia where they are not letting our wines out front where their customers can choose. There is also poultry access issues. So some of the things left out of NAFTA from a Canadian access perspective is not fair for the U.S.,” he said.

Perdue believes that Trump’s tax proposal to slash the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% will help the manufacturing industry.

“I think we outta diagnose why other countries are more effective in manufacturing than we are. Is it true subsidies? Or are there other issues that we need to look at here? I think our corporate tax policy has a lot to do with that. I think we can increase our manufacturing exports here if we have good corporate tax policy,” he said.

Trump, who has been an outspoken opponent NAFTA since his 2016 campaign, believes that the agreement has treated U.S. workers “unfairly” and has negatively impacted America’s manufacturing industry.

However, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Canada is not the cause of the lost U.S. manufacturing jobs under NAFTA.