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Perdue: ‘Still a good bit of work to do’ on NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement needs to be completed soon for Congress to consider and ratify it before mid-term elections.  There are no high-level talks scheduled for this week, but U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters he’s hopeful.

“NAFTA, while many of the agreements have been, in principle, decided, I think it hasn’t been concluded yet,” said Secretary Perdue, in an interview provided by the USDA.  “There’s still a good bit of work to do; we’re hopeful and optimistic it’ll be completed very soon.”

Under Trade Promotion Authority rules, Congress must have a signed trade agreement for six to eight months before it can vote to ratify it.