With President Donald Trump expected to soon announce the U.S. will seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, four retail industry associations are urging the administration to tread carefully.

Trump has blasted NAFTA in the past for allegedly contributing to the loss of U.S. jobs. At one point the president considered pulling out of the free trade agreement, but more recently the White House has raised the possibility of renegotiating the terms of the deal with Canada and Mexico.

In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the four trade groups said the 23-year-old NAFTA could be updated and improved. But the associations also emphasized the importance of the agreement for their industries, saying it directly supports hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs.

"We agree that the agreement should be updated to reflect today's business reality and better prepare for future trade patterns," the groups said. "However, we ask for support from the administration to ensure that renegotiation will ‘do no harm' to the successful supply chains that we rely on today."

The top executives of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association and U.S. Fashion Industry Association signed the letter. http://bit.ly/2qW5vpf

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