MARK MARTINEZ' BLOG: TRUMP'S LYING ABOUT THE "TRADE DEAL" ... AND IS TOO CLUELESS TO KNOW HE'S LYING

El Financiero, one of Mexico's largest financial papers, posted this comic of Trump's "historic" trade deal. Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto's signing a NAFTA document and thinking, "That's OK White Guy ... I'm leaving anyways" (his term ends December 1) as Trump's telling him he'll revise the "fine print" later.

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Donald Trump, desperate for anything that will make him look like he knows what he's doing, is claiming that he's signed an epic "trade deal" with Mexico that's "one of the largest trade deals ever made."

Trump's a complete and utter fool. A couple of points are in order here.

* BIGGEST TRADE DEAL EVER? NOT EVEN CLOSE: What was negotiated is not one of the largest trade deals in history. Not by a long shot. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Trump abandoned represented 40% of global domestic product, and one-third of global trade. The European Union, by itself, totaled $4 trillion in trade in 2107. Then we have the EU-Japan trade agreement. Then there's Russia and China's ...

* NEGOTIATIONS ON A SMALL SCALE: Trump's "trade deal" is actually the first step in preliminary negotiations on a section of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which needs to include Canada. For her part, Canada has to sign off on the automotive part of a trade agreement, which is STILL governed by NAFTA. Referencing the "historic" trade deal, David Frum joked on Twitter yesterday, “Congratulations to the Trump administration on reaching a preliminary agreement in principle to begin negotiations with half of America’s NAFTA counterparties with a view to revising one section of the trade agreement!”. Yeah, this is Small Ball.

* NAFTA'S ALIVE: Contrary to Trump's claims, he is not "terminating the existing [NAFTA] deal." In fact, U.S. trade officials are trying to renegotiate NAFTA, even as Trump lies about the [non-] "historic" agreement he claims to have negotiated. Not only is NAFTA alive, but Trump has moderated his demands of Mexico within the trade agreement (see El Economista's headlines below).

In effect, Trump wants to be congratulated for restarting talks on a trade agreement that he has stalled and badmouthed since Day One.

It's like wanting a pat on the back for denuclearizing North Korea when they're actually revamping their nuclear program.

It's like wanting credit for claiming you didn't hang out with porn stars, and then wanting a pat on the back for saying you actually paid them for services rendered ... and for staying quiet about it.

It's like wanting credit for ... oh never mind.

Look, I'm not interested in bashing Trump everyday, but he does this stuff with such regularity that it's hard to ignore. This trade stuff is so basic - especially if you're a "stable genius" - that anyone who's been involved in global trade, or taken an introductory course on trade and political economy should understand the issues involved.

Trump clearly does not.

For those of you who want to understand a little more about trade, and the stuff Trump doesn't care to look into, think of the following. There are several stages to creating broad trade agreements, and even smaller trade deals. As I point out in my International Commerce class, they range from the negotiation of simple Free Trade Areas and Customs Unions, to Common Markets and Economic Union (where Europe is at today). Each effort is very specific, and requires lengthy and detailed negotiations.

International trade is not built around, "I'm going to slap a tariff on you because you're a cheater." It's not a "tit for tat" game, or a prelude to some power politics move if you're serious about commerce. International trade is more like a chess game. My students in my international relations and international commerce classes understand this.

In reality, NAFTA is not close to what Europe has going on (not by a long shot), and is probably on the short end of a Free Trade Area. In fact, if we're using Economics 101 as our model, NAFTA is not even close to being a "Free Trade" agreement. This is because one of the three primary factors of production - labor - is not free to move about the region. And you can rest assured that our current attitudes towards immigration will make sure nothing changes on that front.

So, in a few words, Trump's principle negotiations on a small part of NAFTA is no breakthrough. NAFTA was a breakthrough, but it's still not a free trade agreement, or a common market, or an economic union. There are many details to each (take my class), but the point is, Donald Trump has no clue what he's talking about. It's a ripple in the larger stream of commerce.

Simply put, Trump's a blustering buffoon on this issue.

At the end of the day, whether it's pestering Europe about NATO "dues" or lecturing Canada about invading the U.S. in 1812, or giving Kim Jong Un a world stage to look statesmanlike, Donald Trump is a national embarrassment, of epic proportions.

Did Canada really invade the U.S. in the War of 1812? Sigh ...

Yes, that's laughter around the world you hear.

- Mark

For the record ... the headlines in Mexico's leading daily newspapers make it clear that Trump's trade deal is neither historic, record breaking, or viewed as the end of NAFTA.

Even Mexico's La Jornada doesn't reference Trump's agreement as historic or "the biggest." It's simply a bilateral commercial agreement. It's the same with El Economista below ...