“The longer we wait, the harder it is going to be for Trump to get what he wants<br />because the nationalist pressure on Peña Nieto will be cumulative,” said Pamela Starr, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Southern California.<br />Which presents yet another paradox: The longer the Americans wait on Nafta negotiations, the more political pressure it<br />places on Mr. Peña Nieto, reducing the flexibility he has to accommodate demands, or surprises, from Mr. Trump’s team.<br />For instance, if job losses begin to mount within the next six months, as some economists predict, the public pressure on the<br />president may be so immense he could have a much harder time selling a revised agreement to Congress and Mexicans at large.<br />“From the Trump and American perspective, this is purely an optional problem,” said Michael Camuñez, the president of ManattJones Global Strategies<br />and an assistant secretary of commerce in the Obama administration.<br />President Enrique Peña Nieto’s approval ratings are near single digits, and further delays in clarifying the future of Nafta could imperil not only growth,<br />but also employment at a time when the government can least afford to lose support.
