Trump says trade deal returns US to ‘manufacturing powerhouse’

President Donald Trump hailed a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico on Monday as a return of the United States to a “manufacturing powerhouse.”

Trump also recognized the one year anniversary of the Las Vegas mass shooting that left 58 dead.

The agreement was forged just before a midnight deadline imposed by the U.S. to include Canada in a deal reached with Mexico late in the summer. It replaces the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has lambasted as a job-wrecking disaster that has hollowed out the nation’s industrialized base.

With his trade team standing by his side, Trump pronounced the NAFTA deal “perhaps the worst trade deal ever wrote.”

In contrast, Trump said the pact is the “most important deal we’ve ever made by far,” covering $1.2 trillion in trade. The president said his administration had not yet agreed to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, a contentious issue between the two neighbors.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed this report.