WASHINGTON—Here’s what we know about President Donald Trump and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

He thinks it is a “catastrophe.” He appears very serious about renegotiating it. He says he wants to begin the new negotiations quickly.

There’s also a lot we don’t know. First and foremost: what he wants to do about Canada.

Trump has never been clear about his precise problems with a complex agreement he describes as one of the worst in world history. And all of his comments on the agreement have focused on Mexico, an ally he sees as an economic predator, and ignored Canada entirely.

In his first extended comment on NAFTA since taking office, Trump suggested Thursday that he wants to see the agreement amended rather than scrapped. He also said he wanted to “speed” the opening of negotiations if possible, suggesting he wanted the senators in the room to reduce the 90-day notice period required before starting talks.

“I have very serious concerns about NAFTA. NAFTA’s been a catastrophe for our country,” Trump said at the White House. “It’s been a catastrophe for our workers and our jobs and our companies. They’re leaving our country. I want to change it. And maybe redo it.”

He suggested an “extra F” could be added to the revised deal, for the word “fair.”

“Free and fair trade. Not just free trade, free and fair trade. Because it’s very unfair,” he said.

He added: “I don’t care if it’s a renovation of NAFTA or a brand new NAFTA.”

Trump did not specify what changes he is seeking to the agreement, which has governed North American trade since 1994. The only major specific proposal he has made to date is a 35 per cent tariff on the Mexican imports of companies that have outsourced production from the U.S.

And Trump has sent mixed signals on his willingness to preserve an agreement involving three countries. He suggested to Fox News last week that he wants to make only two-way bilateral agreements, something he also said on the campaign trail.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has signalled its openness to a bilateral accord that would exclude Mexico. While paying no mind to Canada, the new president has turned Mexico into a punching bag.

Maryscott Greenwood, senior adviser to the ‎Canadian American Business Council, said concerns related to Mexico should not be allowed to hamper the successful Canada-U.S. economic relationship.

“We’re not trying to throw Mexico under the bus here, but the political reality of the way Mexico is viewed currently and the way Canada is viewed is different enough . . . . Three Amigos has become Deux Amis,” she said.

“We have figured out how to do business together, we have figured out how to make money together, how to grow together. And our point of view is: we ought to be taking on the world together and not be looking at each other tit-for-tat. And we hope that’s the way the president and Congress will see it.”

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An economic adviser to Trump, Stephen Schwarzman, told the Liberals in January that Canada has “very special status” and should not be “enormously worried” about trade talks. But Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., David MacNaughton, said Canada must protect against about becoming “collateral damage” of a U.S. attempt to change its trade relationship with Mexico.

Trump faces significant hurdles in persuading the Republican-controlled Congress of the merits of his approach. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has shown a willingness to accommodate Trump, came out firmly against tariffs in January.

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