The TPP is dead. Long live NAFTA?

The American public decided ... it will catapult a protectionist trade skeptic to the oval office in January, prompting observers up north to worry over the future of Canada’s relationship with its biggest economic partner.

Most accept the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which President-Elect Donald Trump positioned himself firmly against, is, as experts described Wednesday, “dead in the water,” “withering on the vine” or “stillborn.”

But there’s considerably more confusion around what happens to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which the president-elect has called “the worst trade deal in history.”

Trump’s campaign criticisms of the deal were mainly directed towards Mexico, experts say, so there is cautious optimism about Canada’s prospects at the negotiating table...

It remains unclear whether Trump would need congressional approval to reopen or withdraw from NAFTA, and whether the pre-existing Canada-U.S. trade deal would survive...

This has been excerpted from 9 November 2016 article by the National Post.