{"id":94720,"date":"2020-01-30T11:10:21","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T19:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=94720"},"modified":"2020-01-30T11:27:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T19:27:44","slug":"remarks-by-president-trump-at-a-signing-ceremony-for-the-united-states-mexico-canada-trade-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=94720","title":{"rendered":"Remarks at a Signing Ceremony for the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you very much. That\u2019s beautiful music. Such talented musicians, and we appreciate it very much. We have a tremendous \u2014 (applause) \u2014 we have a tremendous list of people here today. In fact, so long that if I announced every name, we\u2019d be here for about three hours. (Laughter.) And we have to get back to business. Everybody does. Please sit down. Please.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-94721\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1.jpg 799w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1-570x380.jpg 570w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1-701x468.jpg 701w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8FhteGImzm0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But I want to thank everybody for coming \u2014 coming to the White House on this very momentous, historic, and joyous occasion. It\u2019s been a long time. Everybody said this was a deal that could not be done. \u201cToo complicated, too big. It couldn\u2019t be done.\u201d We got it done.<\/p>\n<p>And today, we\u2019re finally ending the NAFTA nightmare and signing into law the brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. (Applause.) Very special. Very, very special.<\/p>\n<p>The USMCA is the largest, fairest, most balanced, and modern trade agreement ever achieved. There\u2019s never been anything like it. Other countries are now looking at it, but there can\u2019t be a border like that because, believe it or not, that is by far the biggest border anywhere in the world, in terms of economy, in terms of people. There\u2019s nothing even close.<\/p>\n<p>This is a colossal victory for our farmers, ranchers, energy workers, factory workers, and American workers in all 50 states and, you could almost say, beyond \u2014 because it\u2019s all beyond. This is all over the world even though it\u2019s at one beautiful border \u2014 where, by the way, a very major powerful wall is, right now, being built. (Laughter.) Okay? I don\u2019t know if I should say that at this particular reading. I know last night it got a very big hand. (Laughter.) Today, they\u2019re a little bit like, \u201cAre we supposed to clap now?\u201d (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>The USMCA is estimated to add another 1.2 percent to our GDP and create countless new American jobs. It will make our blue-collar boom \u2014 which is beyond anybody\u2019s expectation \u2014 even bigger, stronger, and more extraordinary, delivering massive gains for the loyal citizens of our nation.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time in American history, we have replaced a disastrous trade deal that rewarded outsourcing with a truly fair and reciprocal trade deal that will keep jobs, wealth, and growth right here in America. (Applause.) And, in a true sense, it\u2019s also a partnership with Mexico and Canada and ourselves against the world. It\u2019s really a trade partnership, if you look at it that way. And it\u2019s a day of great celebration in all three countries.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank our amazing Vice President, Mike Pence, who helped us so much with the deal. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And our sincerest appreciation to Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and Jared Kushner and Steve Mnuchin \u2014 (applause) \u2014 and all of these incredible people for the job you\u2019ve done. (Applause.) Like I said, they said it couldn\u2019t be done.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome also to many members of Congress who were key to getting the deal done, including Senator Grassley. Where is Chuck? Where is Chuck? Oh. Oh, he was brutal. (Applause.) He would call me; he would say, \u201cHow is it going? How is it going?\u201d And with Chuck, you just don\u2019t mess around. You said, \u201cWe\u2019ll get it done. Don\u2019t worry.\u201d Thank you, Senator, very much.<\/p>\n<p>And Pat Roberts, Martha McSally.<\/p>\n<p>And I want to just, if I could, mention \u2014 because we do have some incredible people that worked so hard, and \u2014 senators. And maybe I\u2019m being just nice to them because I want their vote. Does that make sense? (Laughter.) I don\u2019t want to leave anybody out. Hey, congressmen, I already got your vote \u2014 196 to nothing. The hell with you. (Laughter.) I think I have to mention some senators that are here.<\/p>\n<p>But Marsha Blackburn, who\u2019s been so \u2014 where\u2019s Marsha Blackburn? Marsha, great. Marsha Blackburn. (Applause.) Great state of Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Roy Blunt. Thank you, Roy. Thank you, Roy.<\/p>\n<p>John Boozman. Thank you, John. Thank you very much. Great job.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Braun. He\u2019s become a big fixture on television and doing a great job.<\/p>\n<p>Shelley Moore Capito. Thank you. West Virginia. (Applause.) Great place.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Bill Cassidy. Senator, thank you very much. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>John Cornyn. Thank you, John. (Applause.) Your poll numbers are looking good, John. (Laughter.) Very, very good. You don\u2019t have to worry about Beto either, do you, John? (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>A great young gentleman, and he\u2019s been with us right from the beginning: Senator Tom Cotton. Where is Tom? (Applause.) Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Tom.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Cramer. (Applause.) Thank you, Kevin.<\/p>\n<p>Ted Cruz. Boy, has he been \u2014 where is Ted? Boy, oh, boy. (Applause.) And he\u2019s dying to get back there and ask those questions. I know. (Laughter.) He said, \u201cLet me out of here, President. I want to ask those questions.\u201d He\u2019s got some beauties, I\u2019ll bet. Thank you, Ted, for everything. You\u2019ve been incredible.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Daines. My friend from the beginning. Thank you, Steve. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Joni Ernst. Joni Ernst. That was a team \u2014 the tag team, with Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. It was impossible. I just say, \u201cJust tell them I\u2019m not in, please.\u201d (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Senator Deb Fischer. Terrific person. (Applause.) Terrific person.<\/p>\n<p>Lindsey Graham. Where is Lindsey? He may be having a news conference right now. He\u2019s working on something. He said, \u201cI\u2019m going over to a news conference!\u201d I said, \u201cYou know what? I\u2019d rather have you at the news conference. Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll take care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A young, brilliant guy who\u2019s done incredibly well and respected by everybody: Senator Josh Hawley. Josh, tremendous. (Applause.) I think he\u2019s another one. He doesn\u2019t want to come over here right now.<\/p>\n<p>Where\u2019s John Hoeven? John? You have been so great. Thank you, John.<br \/>\n(Applause.) John Hoeven.<\/p>\n<p>Senator James Lankford. (Applause.) He is a terrific person. We\u2019re just together on a very special day. Right, James?<\/p>\n<p>Kelly Loeffler. Kelly? Congratulations, Kelly. (Applause.) Really great. They already like you a lot. That\u2019s what the word is. Thank you, Kelly.<\/p>\n<p>Martha McSally. (Applause.) Good, Martha. Great.<\/p>\n<p>Jerry Moran. Jerry? Thank you, Jerry. (Applause.) Did a great job in a lot of different ways.<\/p>\n<p>And another one is James Risch. James? Fantastic job you do. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And Mike Rounds. Where is Mike? Mike, thank you. (Applause.) He\u2019s always there \u2014 Mike. He\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Scott. Mr. Opportunity Zone. And I think he\u2019s over there fighting. He\u2019s saying, \u201cJust read the transcripts.\u201d That\u2019s what he\u2019s saying. He\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Thom Tillis, who\u2019s doing pretty well, is what I\u2019m understanding. Thom Tillis. (Applause.) Where is Thom? Yep.<\/p>\n<p>And Roger Wicker. By the way, is there anybody \u2014 thank you, Roger. Roger.<\/p>\n<p>Is there anybody I didn\u2019t introduce? I would like to apologize immediately.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT: Rick Scott.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Where\u2019s Rick? Where\u2019s Rick? He\u2019s been one of the greats. Oh, I figured he was over there. Rick, why are you not over there, Rick? (Laughter.) Rick Scott has been so incredible. Great Governor of Florida. A great, great governor, and now he\u2019s a great senator. (Applause.) Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of you I don\u2019t have to bother with. (Laughter.) I\u2019m sorry. You know the way it works in life, right? Right, Ivanka? That\u2019s the way it works in life. I\u2019m trying to teach here, but she could actually teach me.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I want to really thank all of those people. And also with us is Kevin McCarthy and Kevin Brady and Mike Conaway and Vern Buchanan and Steve Scalise. They\u2019ve been incredible from day one. (Applause.) And, literally, a hundred other wonderful congressmen and women. We appreciate you being here. And, Kevin, congratulations on your big victory yesterday. That was incredible. And he\u2019s also a tremendous fundraiser \u2014 not that that matters. We don\u2019t even think about that. But that was a big \u2014 a big victory you had yesterday. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Also here are many of the state and local leaders, including a really good friend of mine, somebody that is going to get that pipeline through and approved and finished: Pete Ricketts of Nebraska. Where is Pete? (Applause.) Pete, thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>And a special man and a very popular governor and a very capable governor who\u2019s done an incredible job, and he\u2019s been a tremendous supporter of all of us: Greg Abbott of Texas. (Applause.) Thank you, Greg. Great job. Great job you did.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re very grateful for the close partnership and cooperation with Prime Minister Trudeau and for our incredible friendship and the relationship that we\u2019ve developed with President L\u00f3pez Obrador.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re honored to be joined by Acting Ambassador Hillman from Canada, Ambassador B\u00e1rcena of Mexico, Mexican Undersecretary Seade, Mexican Minister of Economy M\u00e1rquez, and Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard. They were really great people. We got to know them very well. This was a long negotiation, complex. Spent a lot of time with them. Thank you very much for being here. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And I want to say that I have our great Cabinet right up here. But I\u2019m not sure. I don\u2019t know \u2014 Ted, should I introduce the Cabinet? You want to get back, right? Let\u2019s forget it. (Laughter.) My Cabinet is great \u2014 every one of them. Every one of them, they\u2019re fantastic. (Applause.) They are fantastic and we appreciate it very much. You\u2019ve done a great job. Getting good credits for what you\u2019re doing, and we really appreciate it. Really fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>After NAFTA\u2019s adoption more than 25 years ago, the United States lost nearly one-fourth of all of its manufacturing jobs, including more than one in five vehicle manufacturing jobs. Think of that: one in five jobs lost so needlessly.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of factories were shuttered, millions of manufacturing jobs were destroyed, and entire communities were devastated, from Ohio to Pennsylvania, Michigan to Maine, and California to North Carolina. Devastated.<\/p>\n<p>Two decades of politicians ran for office vowing to replace the NAFTA \u2014 and this was a catastrophe: the NAFTA catastrophe. Yet once elected, they never even tried. They never even gave it a shot. They sold out. But I\u2019m not like those other politicians, I guess, in many ways. I keep my promises, and I\u2019m fighting for the American worker. And we\u2019re all fighting for the American worker. Everybody here is fighting for the American worker.<\/p>\n<p>This agreement is a tremendous breakthrough for American agriculture. Canada will finally provide greater access for American dairy. Canada is opening up. It will grow annual exports to our neighbors by an estimated $315 million. Poultry exports to Canada are expected to rise by at least 50 percent, and egg export could increase by 500 percent. Where is the Canadian folks? Where are they? (Applause.) You guys did a good job on us before this deal, I\u2019ll tell you.<br \/>\n(Laughter.) That\u2019s \u2014 Canada was very tough. But they\u2019re good. They\u2019re our friends, so we appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>Very importantly, Canada will finally give fair treatment to American-grown wheat.<\/p>\n<p>The USMCA is also a massive win for American manufacturers and autoworkers. Under NAFTA, companies were given huge incentives to produce cars in foreign countries and ship them to America tax-free. No tax, no nothing. We lost our jobs, we closed our factories, and other countries built our cars. But we\u2019ve changed that. And we\u2019re now setting records.<\/p>\n<p>The USMCA closes these terrible loopholes and includes strong provisions to ensure that new cars are fashioned by American hands \u2014 that\u2019s a fancy word of saying \u201cbuilt\u201d \u2014 and manufactured with American labor. We have some of the great labor leaders here, right now. I think James Hoffa. Where is James Hoffa? James? Thank you very much, James. (Applause.) It\u2019s great. Thank you, James, very much. It\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Fiat Chrysler is already investing $4.5 billion and creating 6,500 new jobs in Michigan, and opening up the first new Detroit plant in more than 30 years. (Applause.) And we have a lot of them happening. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Ford is putting in $1.5 billion and creating 3,000 new jobs, while GM is investing $2.2 billion and creating 2,200 new jobs in Michigan to build vehicles of the future. And I believe we have the Chairman and President and the bosses of those two companies. Please, Mary. Where is Mary? Mary Barra, thank you very much. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, Ford, thank you very much. We appreciate it. What a great job. Please stand. Come on. For that kind of money \u2014 anything over $2 billion, you\u2019re allowed to stand. (Laughter.) Anything over $2 billion; otherwise, we don\u2019t have you stand. (Laughter.) Thank you. Thank you both very much.<\/p>\n<p>Steel Dynamics is building a 1.9 billion-dollar flat roll steel mill near Corpus Christi. And international automakers are pouring $25 billion into the United States, creating 50,000 new American jobs at a minimum. They are all investing in a future where we buy, hire, and drive American cars again. I like that. It\u2019s a very important part of the deal. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Mexico and Canada have agreed to new labor protections that my administration negotiated. The USMCA is the first trade deal in nearly two decades, endorsed by the AF of L-CIO. Thank you very much. Great. That was great. Thank you. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The USMCA contains critical protections for intellectual property, including trade secrets, digital services, and financial services. It establishes new standards and safeguards protecting the environment. And currency stability \u2014 something that has been on my mind for a lot of years, long before I got here. What they\u2019ve done to us with currency is crazy.<\/p>\n<p>It includes protections for American-made fibers, yarns, and fabrics, boosting the U.S. textile industry by numbers that you won\u2019t even believe. You\u2019ll see them soon.<\/p>\n<p>This is a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art agreement that protects, defends, and serves the great people of our country.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to our pro-worker, pro-American economic policies, unemployment is at the lowest level in more than 50 years. It\u2019s great. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve created, in a very short period of time, a number that nobody would\u2019ve believed. If I ever said it during the campaign, they wouldn\u2019t have believed. The estimate was 2 million. The most you could do was 2 million. We\u2019ve created over 7 million new jobs up until this point. (Applause.) Over 7 million new jobs.<br \/>\nNobody would\u2019ve believed that.<\/p>\n<p>Real median household income is now the highest level ever recorded \u2014 history of our country, ever recorded. More Americans are working today than have ever worked in the history of our country. We\u2019re up to almost 160 million people working. We\u2019ve never even come close to a number like that.<\/p>\n<p>We have the hottest economy on Earth. Other countries come to see me in the Oval Office, and the first thing they say is, \u201cWhat are you doing with your economy?\u201d They try to copy us. Many have copied us, and it hasn\u2019t worked so well for them, to put it mildly. We\u2019re \u2014 we are doing better than any country anywhere in the world, and it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n<p>Millions of extraordinary men and women strengthen our country every day in factories and warehouses, fields and farms, mills and stockyards, all across this magnificent land. Their work and devotion and drive inspires our people and powers our nation.<\/p>\n<p>Together, we\u2019re building a glorious future that is raised, grown, built, and made right here in the glorious USA.<\/p>\n<p>I would now like to invite Vice President Pence and Ambassador Lighthizer to say a few words. They worked very hard on the agreement.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m just going to finish off saying that this is something we really put our heart into. It\u2019s probably the number-one reason that I decided to lead this crazy life that I\u2019m leading right now, as opposed to that beautiful, simple life of luxury that I led before this happened. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But I love doing it. And the reason I love doing it is that nobody, in a period of three years, has done so much as all of us have. Nobody. There\u2019s never been an administration that has done what we\u2019ve done in the first three years.<br \/>\n(Applause.) That means we\u2019re doing great things for the people of our country and beyond the people of our country. And it\u2019s a real honor to be involved and to have helped so many people. A real honor.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s an honor to have all of you with us. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Mike, please say a few words. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.) Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, members of Cabinet, and especially Ambassador Bob Lighthizer, governors, members of the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, leaders from businesses large and small across America, and all the hardworking Americans that are here and are looking on: This is a great day for American workers and American farmers because, Mr. President, thanks to your leadership, NAFTA ends today and a new era of jobs and growth begins under the USMCA. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, as a candidate and as our President, you said we could get this economy moving again. And with the support of the members of Congress gathered here, we cut taxes for working families and businesses large and small. We rolled back regulation. You unleashed American energy.<\/p>\n<p>But, Mr. President, you also challenged our party and the American people to think in new ways about international trade. And the American economy is booming. As you just said, more than 7 million jobs created; unemployment at a 50-year low. And I know what means most to you is that wages are rising across the board but they\u2019re rising most rapidly for hardworking, blue-collar Americans. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, today you\u2019ll sign the largest trade deal in American history. And today, thanks to your leadership, we\u2019ll leave behind the failed policies of the past and have a new trade deal that will benefit every American.<\/p>\n<p>As a son of the Heartland, let me say: I couldn\u2019t be more grateful for your leadership. I saw firsthand how NAFTA hollowed out communities, caused thousands of factories to close, shuttered businesses in communities across my state and across the Heartland. We saw thousands of jobs go south of the border. Over a million Americans lost their jobs. But thanks to your leadership, Mr. President, those days are over. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Now, there are so many to thank here \u2014 members of the House and Senate who stood with us every step of the way that you\u2019ve acknowledged. You\u2019ve done a great service to the American people. Let me also thank the governors here and governors around the country, and mayors around the country, who stood with this President believing that we could do better as well.<\/p>\n<p>And, Mr. President, you directed me to travel across this country over the past year. I\u2019ve traveled to nearly 20 states. I\u2019ve met with farmers, and workers, and owners of businesses large and small. And today, I want to give credit to them as well. To Americans like Jay and Sue Blanchard of Safety Signs in Lakeville, Minnesota; to Don Walker of Magna International in Lancaster, Ohio; and Doug Freitas of Freitas Farms in California: It was Americans like them who let their voice be heard and supported your leadership. And Congress acted to approve the USMCA. (Applause.) This day is theirs as well.<\/p>\n<p>But finally, Mr. President, on their behalf, I want to say thank you to you for having the vision long ago that America could do better than NAFTA. I want to thank you, Mr. President, on behalf of all of the American people for simply keeping your word, for fighting for the forgotten men and women of this country every day as you do, for driving a hard bargain, for never letting up until we got a deal that put American jobs and American workers first.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re here today because of great allies in Congress and statehouses and city halls. We\u2019re here today because the American people stepped forward and demanded better. But I want to say with a grateful heart that we\u2019re here mostly because we have a President who will always put America first. Thank you, Mr. President, and congratulations. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Mr. President, Mr. Vice President: The President was elected in large part on his promise to change the direction of U.S. trade policy, a policy that for too long had led to exploding trade deficits, the outsourcing of U.S. jobs, and the brazen theft of American intellectual property. For many, NAFTA came to symbolize everything that was wrong with that policy. The agreement was highly controversial from the start, and passed with a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those who cast votes in favor came to regret their decision. They did so because many of the promises that were made in order to procure their votes came to nothing. NAFTA\u2019s weak, unenforceable labor side agreement did not raise wages in Mexico. The outsourcing fears that prominent NAFTA voices \u2014 anti-NAFTA voices came to nothing. And the situation got worse later in the decade when China joined the WTO.<\/p>\n<p>This experience colored every subsequent debate over trade policy. And nearly every trade agreement after NAFTA passed with an increasingly narrow majority, and often along party lines.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump set out to chart a new course. The Trump trade policy is designed to create more manufacturing jobs, protect America\u2019s competitive advantage in technology and innovation, secure greater market access for American businesses, farmers, ranchers, and, critically, to change the stale politics of trade by creating bipartisan consensus around a new model that works better for all Americans.<\/p>\n<p>The USMCA achieves each of these goals. This great historic agreement is truly the result of extraordinary effort by many, many people. It is multinational, whole of administration, and bipartisan. It affects every sector, thousands of businesses, and millions of workers in our economy.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the President was our leader and inspiration. And the Vice President was intimately involved in this process, in every single step, and devoted an enormous amount of his first term to making sure that we succeeded. For that, I\u2019m very grateful.<\/p>\n<p>The complexity of this effort is perhaps best shown by the fact that, in the early rounds, as many as a thousand negotiators from the three countries would be involved. We needed experts on agriculture, manufacturing, automobiles, banking, telecommunications, labor, environment. And I can go and on.<\/p>\n<p>I would like to thank my negotiating partners from Mexico: Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo, Ambassador Jes\u00fas Seade, as well as the absolutely essential Luis Videgaray, Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, as well as Secretary Graciela M\u00e1rquez, and past and present Ambassadors Guti\u00e9rrez and B\u00e1rcena from Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>On the Canadian side, I would like to thank Deputy Prime Minister and good friend Chrystia Freeland, Gerry Butts, Katie Telford, and Steve Verheul. And, again, the Ambassadors there, past and present, MacNaughton and Heymen.<br \/>\nAll were critical. Mexico and Canada are fortunate to have such impressive public servants.<\/p>\n<p>I would also personally like to thank the members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, who worked so hard on this agreement \u2014 not just last year, but during the course of the negotiations. They also were involved every step of the way. They made this a bipartisan success.<\/p>\n<p>I have been in town long enough to know that listing members at a time like this makes more enemies than friends. (Laughter.) So I\u2019ll only mention that I\u2019m grateful to the leadership of the House, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee and the Finance Committee, and, of course, Leader McConnell. Many others made immense contributions.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you also to congressional staff. You were magnificent for two years.<\/p>\n<p>Finally \u2014 and I apologize for the length of my remarks \u2014 I want to show my appreciation to the inspiring men and women of USTR, as well as the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture \u2014 (applause) \u2014 Treasury, Labor, Transportation, EPA, and other agencies that worked so hard. These people worked tens of thousands of hours for two-plus years, many going home at two and three o\u2019clock in the morning, or not at all.<\/p>\n<p>Chief among the leaders of this effort is my deputy, Ambassador C.J. Mahoney. (Applause.) Since his confirmation two years ago, he has worked continuously on this effort, day and night, and seven days a week.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you also, Ambassador Doud, our agriculture negotiating, and the long-suffering Jamieson Greer, who has the unenviable task of being my chief of staff. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>As I said 16 months ago, thank you also, Jared Kushner, my friend and partner, for all your work and guidance and support. (Applause.) I said before, from the heart, and I mean it again now: Thank you to the Cabinet members who devoted a substantial part of their terms to this effort, particularly the Secretaries of Treasury, Commerce, Agriculture, Labor. And thank you, of course, Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro.<\/p>\n<p>The chief negotiator of the USMCA was Assistant USTR John Melle. (Applause.) He was, throughout, the one who is responsible for the 350 or so people on our team. John is the best example of a career public servant. He retires this week, and he will be missed. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>In closing, let me just say that I mostly want to thank the President of the United States for allowing me to lead this special team, for his constant steady leadership, and for always being supportive during very difficult times, and to congratulate him on his magnificent achievement. To do this, and to do it under these circumstances, is a monumental part of your legacy, and I\u2019m happy to be part of it. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll end where I began. The President ran and was elected on replacing NAFTA with an agreement that puts American workers first, American farmers, ranchers, and businesses first; that will bring manufacturing back; help service industry workers; and raise wages. All I can say, if you\u2019ll pardon the appropriation: Promise made, and three years later, promise kept. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Great job. Well, great job.<\/p>\n<p>Well, with all of the power and wealth and status in front of me, I think we would all agree that the people that are, by far, the most important with us today happen to be standing right behind me. (Applause.) Thank you all. Thank you all. Great.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re the ones. They\u2019re the workers. They\u2019re the workers, and they\u2019re the ones that are going to benefit most by what we\u2019re doing. So thank you very much for being here. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT: Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>And I would like you to remember that, two weeks ago, we signed another little deal: our trade deal with China. And we expect to be taking in $250 billion a year in purchases. They will be purchasing so much from our farmers. I\u2019ve been saying they have to go out and buy, immediately, larger tractors and more land. (Laughter.) I hope they can do it.<\/p>\n<p>But they \u2014 the number is \u2014 the largest number they\u2019ve ever produced was $16 billion a year. I think, Chuck, we could say that. Joni, you would say sixteen was the number.<\/p>\n<p>I called up our great Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny \u2014 who is probably around here someplace \u2014 and I said, \u201cSonny, what\u2019s the biggest number?\u201d Sonny Perdue. And he said, \u201cSir, $16 billion is the biggest number.\u201d I said, \u201cAll right, but we\u2019re going to make it up, because they were targeted\u201d \u2014 perhaps correctly. You know, China is negotiating. That\u2019s why nobody wanted to take it on. They said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to target your farmers.\u201d And every other leader of our country said, \u201cOh, we\u2019re going to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Our farmers were incredible because they said, \u201cThe President is doing the right thing.\u201d But I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the number we\u2019re talking about?\u201d And it was $16 billion, and it was $12 billion from the previous year. So it was $12 billion and $16 billion, and that was it. That was the maximum they\u2019ve ever done.<\/p>\n<p>So I said, \u201cYou know what we have to do? We\u2019re going to reimburse them and help them with $12 billion for the first year; $16 billion, same thing, for the second year.\u201d And the farmers got through. And they didn\u2019t want that. Nobody wanted to call it a subsidy. And it wasn\u2019t a subsidy; it was really a \u201ctargeting fee,\u201d you could call it.<\/p>\n<p>But our farmers \u2014 I\u2019ll never forget \u2014 we had them over at the White House in the Cabinet Room. Thirty-five farmers. And they said, \u201cSir, we don\u2019t want any money. We just want a level playing field. We don\u2019t want money.\u201d And I said, \u201cYou know what? I\u2019ve been President now\u201d \u2014 at that time \u2014 \u201cfor two and a half years.\u201d I said, \u201cThat\u2019s the first time anybody has ever said that.\u201d Everybody wants money and they don\u2019t care how they get it. (Laughter.) This is the first time. They said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want\u201d \u2014 \u201cwe just want a level playing field.\u201d They are the most incredible people.<\/p>\n<p>And when some of the people from the media \u2014 I\u2019m going to be very nice today \u2014 the people from the media went out to the farms, and they went out to Iowa, and they went to Nebraska, they went to all of the different \u2014 many of the different states \u2014 and they said, \u201cWhat do you think about what the President is doing?\u201d They all \u2014 I don\u2019t think I heard one negative \u2014 no matter who it was, no matter which network. The farmers would say, \u201cThe President is doing the right thing. This should\u2019ve been done a long time ago.\u201d I\u2019ll never forget it. (Applause.) And now the farmers are going to be tremendous beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, when Bob was getting ready to sign the agreement, very close \u2014 we were a few days off \u2014 and I said, \u201cWhat are we getting for the farmers?\u201d \u201cSir, we have it up to $20 billion purchased.\u201d I said, \u201cMake it 50.\u201d They said, \u201cWhat do you mean, \u2018Make it 50\u2019?\u201d Remember that one, Bob? I said, \u201cMake it 50.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: He said, \u201cSir, they can\u2019t produce that much.\u201d I said, \u201cThey\u2019ll find a way to do it.\u201d I think they\u2019ll find a way. Chuck, if they don\u2019t find a way, I\u2019m going to be very angry at you, okay? They\u2019ll find a way. But it\u2019s true. We had it down to 20; that\u2019s more than they had ever done before. I said, \u201cMake it 50.\u201d And they\u2019re going to.<\/p>\n<p>I think China is going to really be terrific. I think our relationship has never been better. We\u2019re very much involved with them, right now, on the virus that\u2019s going around. We\u2019re working very closely. I spoke to President Xi. We\u2019re working very closely with China.<\/p>\n<p>And, honestly, I think, as tough as this negotiation was, I think our relationship with China now might be the best it\u2019s been in a long, long time. And now it\u2019s reciprocal. Before, we were being ripped off badly. Now we have a reciprocal relationship, maybe even better than reciprocal for us. Because we have a long way to go before we get back some of the $500 billion a year that we were losing for year after year to China.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re very honored by that deal and we\u2019re very honored by the USMCA. And I just want to thank everybody in the audience because almost every one of you, indirectly or directly, was involved. And history is going to show \u2014 you\u2019re going to be very, very proud of what\u2019s happening and very proud of what\u2019s happening to our country.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you all for being here very much. And I\u2019m going to have the honor of signing the USMCA. Thank you very much. (Applause.)<br \/>\nWhy don\u2019t we have some of our great leaders come up? Cabinet members, come up. Why don\u2019t we have everybody come up? Mick, everybody. Cabinet. Jared, Ivanka. Come on up.<\/p>\n<p>This will be very historic. So if you don\u2019t \u2014 senators, come on up. Come on, senators. Come on, senators. Please, come up. Please. Please, come up.<br \/>\nOh, we\u2019re going to take care of the senators. The workers understand. They get it better than anybody. Hi, fellas. Good. This is great.<\/p>\n<p>And, Bob, if we could have some of the folks that worked so hard on the agreement come up, from your department. Come on up. Come on up. Some of them are \u2014 they just didn\u2019t stop. They worked long hours. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you, Roger. Okay. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>(The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is signed.) (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Thank you all for coming. It\u2019s a great honor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you very much. That\u2019s beautiful music. Such talented musicians, and we appreciate it very much. We have a tremendous \u2014 (applause) \u2014 we have a tremendous list of people here today. In fact, so long that if I announced every name, we\u2019d be here for about three hours. (Laughter.) And we have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/c2ea01a6-44d1-4a52-9e1a-314df07affca-1-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}