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Trump still ready to pull out of NAFTA, Commerce secretary says

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Trump still ready to pull out of NAFTA, Commerce secretary says

The Trump administration remains ready to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement unless the renegotiated pact provides more benefits to the U.S. than withdrawal would, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told a Senate committee.

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., pressed Ross during a hearing on the administration's infrastructure plans about President Donald Trump's attitude toward NAFTA, and whether full withdrawal from the treaty is still possible. Negotiations on a new treaty have continued but little clarity has emerged on the likely outcome of the talks.

"Is it fair to say that unilateral withdrawal has been taken off the table?" Udall asked Ross at the hearing held by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

"No," Ross said. "The president has said repeatedly that he requires a good deal for the United States. If there is a deal put on his desk, he will compare that with the alternative."

Udall's line of questioning came in the context of a discussion of infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border and whether the administration had considered the impact a total NAFTA withdrawal would have on that region of the country.

"We've been visited by representatives of the transportation industry, of the oil and gas industry just about every industry you can imagine as well as many state and local officials," Ross said. "We have been highly sensitized to the dependence that a lot of the border states have on the Mexican border … We are keenly aware of the potential impact."