{"id":175722,"date":"2016-08-10T20:48:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T02:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=175722"},"modified":"2016-10-12T13:10:06","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T19:10:06","slug":"trump-calls-nafta-a-disaster-texas-republicans-beg-to-differ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/08\/trump-calls-nafta-a-disaster-texas-republicans-beg-to-differ\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump calls NAFTA a ‘disaster.’ Texas Republicans beg to differ."},"content":{"rendered":"

Caught between the anti-globalist\u00a0tirades\u00a0of their presidential standard bearer and their state’s close trade ties with Mexico,\u00a0Texas congressional Republicans are straddling a tricky political line\u00a0when it comes to talk of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/a>

Gage Skidmore \/ Creative Commons<\/p>

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. (Photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Republican nominee Donald Trump called NAFTA a \u201cdisaster\u201d and backed\u00a0renegotiating the pact in a policy speech in Detroit on Monday. Barring a better deal, he said, the United States should withdraw from the 22-year-old\u00a0agreement that lowered trade barriers between the United States, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n

Texas\u00a0grassroots conservatives\u00a0also want\u00a0to abandon the deal. The Republican Party of Texas’\u00a02016\u00a0platform<\/a>\u00a0demands \u201cimmediate\u00a0withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when The Texas Tribune reached out to each of the 27 Republican members of the Texas congressional delegation, not\u00a0one joined in Trump’s call for renegotiating the treaty. None agreed to be interviewed, three responded with written statements and the others either did not respond or declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cNAFTA is responsible for increasing trade between Texas and Mexico by almost 110 percent since 2004,\u201d Rep.\u00a0Will Hurd<\/a>, R-San Antonio, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas leads the nation in exports and benefits from international agreements that put Texans\u2019 goods and services in front of more customers,\u201d said\u00a0Rep.\u00a0Lamar Smith<\/a>, R-San Antonio,\u00a0who\u00a0voted to ratify NAFTA in 1993.<\/p>\n

In 1991, the year before President George H. W. Bush signed on to the terms of NAFTA, Texas exported $15.5 billion in goods to Mexico, according to the\u00a0Texas Center\u2019s Institute for International Trade<\/a>. By 2015, that had\u00a0increased sixfold<\/a>. Last year, Texas\u2019 export industry employed 1.1 million people \u2014 the most in the country, according to\u00a0the U.S. Department of Commerce.<\/p>\n