Relax! NAFTA isn't going to collapse

As American, Canadian and Mexican negotiators meet for a fifth round of NAFTA discussions in Mexico City, CNBC reported that a number of analysts are projecting significantly high odds that the trade pact would fall apart:

Jens Nordvig, Exante Data CEO, sent out a warning note Monday that his firm now sees a 30 to 40 percent chance of NAFTA "blowing up" by March.

While Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group said in a note Monday that he has long thought there was 50/50 chance NAFTA would fall apart, but he is also becoming increasingly concerned.

"The big risk is that trade tension in NAFTA spreads to a more global stage, for example if the EU sides with Mexico in WTO disputes. This is where the global risk grows very large," Nordvig said in an email.

Canada's McLean's magazine proclaimed in an article that, "If NAFTA dies, 'all hell will break loose'". As a consequence of these trade jitters, both Canadian and Mexican equities have underperformed American ones.

Relax, even if the Trump administration didn't get its way in its negotiations, the path to walking away from NAFTA will be long and difficult.

The full post can be found at our new site here.