U.S. agrees to renegotiate NAFTA with Mexico, Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump take part in a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 13, 2017. The White House says U.S President Donald Trump has told both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico's president that he has agreed not to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement at this time. [File photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick]

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his country would not terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) but would renegotiate it with Mexico and Canada.

"President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time, and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly... to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries," the White House said in a statement following Trump's calls with the leaders of Mexico and Canada on Wednesday.

"It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation. It is an honor to deal with both President Pena Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau," the statement said.

Earlier, local media reported that the Trump administration is considering an executive order to quit NAFTA.

Trump recently ramped up his criticism of Canada and required a 20 percent tariff on imports of Canadian softwood lumber.

Canada said it was ready to come to talks on renewing NAFTA at any time, while Mexico said that the negotiations would have to be of a trilateral nature.

During the campaign, Trump has called NAFTA one of "the worst trade deals" in history.

Analysts warned that U.S. exporters could face high tariffs without NAFTA, because the U.S. exporters not only have gained greater tariff preferences under the deal, but also have been exempt from potential tariff hikes facing other exporters.