Marcelo Ebrard, head of the Ministry of Economy (SE) , announced that he held a conversation this Wednesday with Jamieson Greer, United States Trade Representative (USTR) , as part of the work being carried out in the lead-up to the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) , scheduled for next July.
In a message on his social media account, Ebrard shared that trade authorities from both countries began the first talks on the trilateral trade agreement , which has been in effect since 2020.
The delegation accompanying the Secretary of Economy includes Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of the SE, and other Mexican officials.
In the post, Marcelo Ebrard indicated that “the technical teams will be working today and tomorrow throughout the day”; however, he did not provide further details about the meeting with Greer and his team. He also did not elaborate on the topics under discussion or whether any specific agreement had been reached.
It is worth remembering that Jamieson Greer has expressed his support for the USMCA, despite the fact that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has repeatedly expressed his disagreement with the trade agreement, calling it “the worst in the history of the United States.”
Greer has indicated that the USMCA will not be automatically renewed, so Mexico must resolve a list of pending issues that could define the future of this agreement .
Among the issues he raised were improvements to labor legislation and the enforcement of environmental laws. He also discussed agricultural trade, seasonal Mexican products, labeling and rules of origin, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, among others, including critical minerals.
Ebrard indicated in a previous publication that Mexico “will propose the continuation of the USMCA and the elimination of tariffs.”
On several occasions, Marcelo Ebrard has commented that Mexico will come out ahead in the review of the USMCA and has shown confidence in the team he leads for the negotiation.
On March 9, the Mexican government presented the results of the public consultations for the review of the USMCA, where 78.5% of participants emphasized that the trade agreement is “positive or very positive .” On average, the percentage of people who considered it positive was 84% by sector and 75.9% by state.
The USMCA has a validity of 16 years, and article 34.7 indicates that a review must be carried out six years after it was implemented, where the three countries will evaluate its functioning to see if it continues for another 16 years.
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