US President Donald Trump [official website] on Saturday signed an executive order [text] directing the Commerce Department [official website] and the US Trade Representative [official website] to review all US trade agreements and membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) [official website] to determine the cause of the US trade deficit. The order calls for a comprehensive review of whether previous free trade agreements and membership in the WTO have brought the benefits that were predicted. The order comes three days after Trump announced [AP report] he would not order a withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but would rather renegotiate its terms with Canada and Mexico. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross responded [press briefing] to the order, and stated that an analysis of NAFTA will be a significant part of the required study.

The new executive orders raise the number of executive orders by President Trump since taking office 100 days ago to 32. On Friday Trump signed [JURIST report] an executive order to lift restrictions placed on offshore oil drilling. Earlier this month a federal judge issued a temporary injunction [JURIST report] against Executive Order 13768 which would have allowed the federal government to withhold funds from cities which have been designated as “sanctuary cities.” Also in April, Trump signed [JURIST report] an order that requires executive agencies to monitor and enforce “Buy American” laws.