Canada, United States Will Meet Regarding USMCA In The New Year
According to ABC News, last week Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told provincial leaders that, in January, officials from Canada and the United States will launch formal discussions to review the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA). As Connecting the Dots has reported before, the trade pact is up for review in 2026; if the agreement is not extended, it will expire on July 1, 2036.
Also last week: U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer briefed U.S. lawmakers about the Trump administration’s current views regarding the USMCA.
According to an analysis from Ernst and Young, Ambassador Greer said most stakeholders who had weighed in had told his office that they support USTR extension — with changes. Specifically, Ambassador Greer told lawmakers that “many industrial stakeholders” raised rules of origin in their comments, “especially the idea that the rules need to change to better ensure that the United States and our USMCA partners primarily benefit from the agreement’s preferential tariff treatment.”
Ambassador Greer outlined key issues the Trump administration believes must be addressed bilaterally with Mexico and Canada, as well as issues that must be addressed trilaterally before the Trump administration would be willing to extend the trade agreement. He also said his office had received numerous comments related to economic security and the need for the U.S., Canadian, and Mexican governments “to address the distorting effects of non-market policies and practices, such as industrial overcapacity, on the USMCA free trade area.”
Regarding the Trump administration’s own thoughts on the trade pact, Ambassador Greer said he and President Donald Trump believe the USMCA has been “successful to a degree,” but they also believe it has shortcomings. Among the deficits Ambassador Greer listed are the Canadian and Mexican governments’ implementation of their commitments and the USCMA’s ability “to address the surge of investment from companies domiciled in non-market economies in the region or the effects of industrial overcapacity on the three economies.” Ambassador Greer said the Trump administration would not automatically extend the terms of the USMCA, but will keep “options open.” Read Ernst and Young’s full analysis.