U.S. President Donald Trump has told the leaders of Canada and Mexico that he will not immediately terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but move to quickly begin renegotiation. 

A White House statement said Trump spoke by telephone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday, in what was described as a "pleasant and productive" conversation.

"President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries," the statement said.

"It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation. It is an honor to deal with both President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, and I believe that the end result will make all three countries stronger and better," Trump was quoted as saying.

Trump has in the past been highly critical of the regional trade agreement describing it as “the worst trade deal maybe ever”, and had pledged to either renegotiate or withdraw the from it.

News agency Reuters reported Mexican and Canadian currencies rebounded in Asian trading after the announcement, while the U.S. dollar dropped 0.6% on its Canadian counterpart and 1% on the peso.

It also reported the White House had been considering an executive order exiting NAFTA as early as Trump's 100th day in office on Saturday, but there was a split among his top advisers over whether to take the step.

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