Trump defends new name for trade deal with Canada and Mexico

President Trump on Tuesday defended the name of his deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he has dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.  

“The USMCA. Like YMCA or United States Marine Corps with an ‘A’ at the end. I liked the way it sounded. I didn’t want to use the name NAFTA because NAFTA has been so bad for us,” Trump said during a speech in Philadelphia. 

{mosads}Trump is embarking on an effort to sell the deal, saying it will “revitalize the American auto industry” and prevent U.S. jobs from going overseas. 

But the self-described branding expert could face an uphill battle in getting the new name for the quarter-century-old agreement to stick. 

Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, called the pact “new NAFTA” during a Tuesday interview with CNN before correcting himself to say “USMCA.” 

During a Monday news conference, Trump predicted the new moniker will be “the name that 99 percent of the time that we’ll be hearing.” 

“It sort of, just, works. USMCA.” he said.