President Trump to Keep The NAFTA Treaty and TN Visas (For Now)

One of the top campaign promises of the Trump administration during the election season was to scrap the NAFTA treaty between the U.S, Canada and Mexico.    The NAFTA treaty is the source of TN visas for nationals of Canada or Mexico and, understandably, TN workers and employers have been nervous about the future of NAFTA for the last few months.  In an announcement today, the Trump administration confirmed that they will not seek to revoke the NAFTA treaty, at least at this time.

The White House Announcement on NAFTA

In a statement, the White House indicated that the Trump Administration will not seek to terminate NAFTA at this time but rather will seek to start a process to renegotiate the treaty and adjust certain provisions.

The White House statement from April 26, 2017 indicated,

Late this afternoon, President Donald J. Trump spoke with both President Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada. Both conversations were pleasant and productive. President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries. President Trump said, ‘it is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation. It is an honor to deal with both President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better.’

More details and analysis from NPR.

Conclusion

This announcement should come as a relief to TN workers and employers.   Over the last months, our office has been busy with providing strategic advise and planning to TN workers and employers in the event the NAFTA treaty is to be terminated, especially on a short notice and this announcement should provide some assurance that, for now, the NAFTA treaty and the TN visas will not be scrapped.  However, it is important to continue to monitor the administration’s efforts to renegotiate or otherwise change the NAFTA treaty and the TN visa option.     Our office will continue to monitor this topic and provide updates and alerts as soon as there are important developments.    In the meantime, please feel free to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to obtain developments on this and related topics. If our office can be of any help, please feel free to contact us.