"The midterms aren't going to change anything. If anything, it's going to get worse after the midterms, because you have now for example the (North American Free Trade Agreement) negotiations," Okun, senior advisor at McLarty Associates and board member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, told CNBC on Monday. He said if the deal is not concluded in the next 30 days, it will probably carry over to the next Congress.
Most projections show that the Democrats have a good chance of taking control of the House on the back of multiple victories in November. That, according to Okun, would mean little progress for President Donald Trump's agenda.
"They are not going to approve anything that the president wants. They are going to be investigating the president over and over and over again, and the entire administration over and over and over again," he said.
Last week, the U.S. and Mexico struck a trade deal that is set to replace NAFTA, the current agreement between the two nations and Canada. On Friday, talks between the U.S. and Canada failed to reach a deal, and they're set to continue this week. Trump has made clear he plans to strike a new deal within 90 days — with or without Canada.
Okun added that the trade war with China would probably get worse as well.
He explained that Washington is "going to have the inability to get anything done," given that the entire administration will be affected if the Democrats take over.
The U.S midterm elections are set to take place on November 6.
"The president still has some authority under trade, he's going to be able to put on the auto parts tariffs if he wants, he's going to be able to hit China with $200 billion and another $200 billion on top of that. So I see things getting worse for trade, not better, after the midterm elections," he said.
Reference: CNBC
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