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Much at stake for Tenn. in Trump NAFTA renegotiation

mtsu.edu/berc

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  A mid-state researcher says Tennessee has a lot at stake as President Donald Trump begins re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement today.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the United States from NAFTA and similar trade agreements if other nations are unwilling to renegotiate to terms he likes.

Middle Tennessee State Global Commerce specialist Dr. Steve Livingston warns that Tennessee is deeply connected to trade partners stretching from Canada, through the U.S. and into South America.

“For anybody in this state that relies on the supply chains, which would be the appliance industry, a lot of the machinery industry, the automotive industry. The ramifications on doing business would be tremendous.”

Livingston says Trump’s scuttling of the Trans-Pacific Partnership earlier this year cost Tennessee hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of new business, especially in the farm sector.

But Dr. Livingston says Tennessee’s business community shouldn’t push the panic button just yet. He notes that the president won’t be able to make any large scale changes to NAFTA unilaterally.

“A lot of the things so far are just words, right? Most of the big changes that president Trump is talking about have to go through congress, so whatever’s going to happen it’s still quite a distance in the future.”

President Trump has been especially hard on Mexico. Livingston notes that Tennessee does a lot of business there so any changes in that relationship could be especially disruptive.

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