The fourth round of talks between Mexico and the United States to review the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will have to wait. Although the teams were initially scheduled to resume negotiations on September 28, Washington’s international agenda led both countries to postpone the meeting, and October now appears to be the most likely date.
Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy (SE) , explained that there is still no formal date announced, but he indicated that talks could resume next month.
“Look, we haven’t announced the topic of the fourth round yet, because, as you know, there’s the visit of President Xi of China to the United States. It was decided to postpone this a little. The G20 summit is also coming up next week, as you know, we’re in Milwaukee, so there are several events,” he explained at the end of the 5th Mexico-United States Binational Convention of the American Society of Mexico .
The postponement comes after three rounds of bilateral talks. The third round took place last July in Mexico City and included discussions on steel and aluminum, vehicles, economic security, labor, agriculture, and electronic payment services .
For Mexico, however, the timeline does not mean that negotiations have stalled. Gutiérrez asserted that they maintain virtually daily communication with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Commerce .
The next step in the USMCA review also comes with a defined priority for Mexico: to improve the tariff conditions of sectors considered strategic, such as automotive, steel and aluminum, affected by US trade measures under Section 232.
“That is Mexico’s priority: to achieve the best conditions in the world for these sectors, and that is what we are working on,” the undersecretary stated.
The official assured that the United States maintains a receptive position to Mexican proposals, although he did not anticipate a specific outcome.
“We are working towards that. Our meetings are very positive and we are optimistic that we can have results in the coming years,” he said.
Beyond tariff negotiations, Mexico’s argument seeks to use the USMCA review to deepen North American production integration . Gutiérrez emphasized that Mexico remains committed to strengthening regional goods production.
The issue is relevant for supply chains because the treaty review is not limited to existing trade rules, but also incorporates discussions on rules of origin, economic security, and dependence on inputs from other regions.
In that scenario, the negotiation has two paths for the Mexican government: defend the existing access conditions for Mexican exports and seek new spaces to increase production within North America.
Currently, around 85% of Mexican exports to the United States enter duty-free . Mexico maintains one of the lowest tariffs in the world, Gutiérrez explained.
“We have one of the lowest tariffs on the planet, 3.4 percent. We have a joint work plan with the United States to start bringing in from other regions of the world what we are currently importing and start producing it in Mexico, the United States, and Canada,” he emphasized.
The negotiation also has a compliance dimension. The US administration initially presented around 54 points . However, some of these generate new follow-up points once the first stage is completed. As an example, they mentioned the regulation of digital platforms: once the legislation is approved, the next step is to review its implementation.
Mexico also raised approximately 12 issues. These included respect for the decisions of a panel related to the methodology for rules of origin in the automotive sector, customs matters , and proposals to increase regional production of currently imported goods.
Thus, the postponement of the fourth bilateral round does not in itself modify the content of the review, but it does extend the period of technical work before both countries formally meet again.
For Mexican production chains, particularly those linked to the automotive, steel and aluminum sectors, the tariff discussion will be one of the elements that will continue to shape the trade landscape in the coming months.
The USTR itself has indicated that the 2026 rounds seek to advance rules of origin, economic security and conditions to strengthen production in the United States and Mexico, as well as reduce the presence of inputs from countries outside the region .
The timeline, for now, points to October, but without a specific date. Gutiérrez acknowledged that Mexico aims to achieve results this year, though he left the timeframe open: “We don’t know. We’re working towards it; we want it to be this year, but we’ll see. It depends on many factors.”
The fourth round of talks between Mexico and the United States is particularly relevant given the trade between the two countries. In the period from January to July 2016 alone, the exchange of goods between Mexico and the United States totaled $588,523.8 million , according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau , highlighting the level of integration between the two nations in the commercial sector.
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