One of the challenges of revising the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be addressing trade instruments such as Section 232, which have generated distortions in some productive sectors, said Kenneth Smith, president of the Mexico-United States Bilateral Business Committee of the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (Comce) , who emphasized that the private sector’s objective is to preserve completely tariff-free trade within North America , provided that the rules of origin are met

During the forum “100 Days After the USMCA Review ,” Smith explained that, in the current trade environment, goods originating in the region continue to benefit from zero tariffs , while products from other economies face tariffs that can reach 10%, 25%, or even 50% in sectors such as steel, aluminum, or strategic minerals.

“This difference, he noted, reinforces the importance of strengthening North American production integration and expanding regional content in strategic industries such as automotive, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing,” a statement said.

In his remarks, he stressed that strengthening North America requires a regional strategy based on technical information , business coordination, and economic analysis that supports the treaty’s relevance to the governments of the three countries.

In that context, he presented the North American Trade Coalition (NATC) initiative , a trilateral platform that brings together representatives from industry and academia in Mexico, the United States, and Canada with the goal of generating analyses and proposals that demonstrate the economic impact of the USMCA.

Sergio Contreras Pérez, CEO of COMCE, emphasized that North America has consolidated its position as the most integrated manufacturing region in the world , operating as a single manufacturing platform. He indicated that bilateral trade between Mexico and the United States is close to one trillion dollars annually, while total trade within the USMCA—including services such as transportation, tourism, and financial services—is approaching 1.8 trillion dollars.

For his part, Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy , stressed that the participation of the private sector will be crucial in the review process.

He reported that the formal start of discussions is scheduled for March 16 and added that priority issues include rules of origin, strengthening regional supply chains, and substituting extra-regional inputs with production within North America.

“We believe that at the end of the treaty review we will have a trilateral agreement in which Canada is a fundamental part. Our vision, and I believe it is Canada’s vision as well, is a regional one. If we are together, we are stronger,” he added.

During the forum, Juan Cortina Gallardo, representative of the Mexican Business Council , noted that the private sector of the three countries is working together to preserve the trilateral nature of the agreement. He recalled that 13 million jobs in the United States depend on trade with Mexico and Canada, and emphasized that the region’s productive integration is one of the pillars of its global competitiveness .

The forum also included a panel focused on regional competitiveness, technological innovation, and supply chains. Sofía Pérez Gasque, general director of the Mexican Association of the Information Technology Industry (AMITI) , emphasized that the information technology sector plays an enabling role for multiple industries.

Among other business leaders and specialists, Carlos García, president of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico , pointed out that the economic integration between Mexico and the United States is reflected in the regional production structure. He indicated that approximately 40% of the value of Mexican exports incorporates U.S. content, demonstrating the high degree of interdependence between the two economies.

Comce reaffirmed its commitment to contribute its technical capacity, international experience and knowledge of the commercial environment to support companies and authorities in the process of reviewing the agreement.

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El cargo Private sector seeks to preserve tariff-free trade in USMCA review: Comce apareció primero en T21.

Supply chains , the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA ) will be key drivers for Mexico and its economy in 2026, academics agreed at the Economic and Political Panorama of Mexico 2026 event , organized by the  School of Government and Public Transformation  together with the  EGADE Business School  of  Tecnológico de Monterrey

During his presentation entitled Mexico: Economic Perspectives, Challenges and Opportunities of the United States Trade Policy , Ernesto Stein, distinguished professor at the School of Government and Public Transformation, pointed out that Mexico is experiencing a “second wave” of relocation that could surpass the impact of the first thanks to the tariffs of the US government.

He explained that while Asian countries like Vietnam face tariffs of up to 20% in the United States, Mexico maintains a competitive advantage by exporting under the USMCA with zero tariffs on most of its products. This phenomenon also caused the use of the treaty’s rules in Mexican exports to jump from 50% to 85% in recent months .

“This can open up a huge opportunity for many more SMEs to get involved in these value chains,” he said.

In an interview with Grupo T21 , Stein also emphasized that the renegotiation of the treaty scheduled for this year will be crucial, although with contrasting scenarios . In the worst-case scenario, it would imply the United States’ withdrawal from the agreement through a gradual review process; in the best-case scenario, specific adjustments would be made that would maintain tariff benefits and guarantee the continuity of Mexican exports to the U.S. market.

“I am cautiously optimistic , as they say in English, that this is what will happen because I realize the benefits the treaty has, despite what Trump has said, not only for Mexican companies, but also for American ones. There is a North American production system; there isn’t an individual production system for Mexico, the United States, and Canada. They have spent 25 years adjusting these supply chains to make them more efficient, and for me, it is very important to preserve those advantages,” he stated.

During his presentation, the academic indicated that another key element in economic development is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has driven a surge in investment in data centers and servers , a market where Mexico has gained ground. Its share of U.S. imports in this sector increased from 21.5% to 28.4%, solidifying the country’s position as a significant player in technological infrastructure.

Scrambled eggs , the value chains between Mexico and the United States

For his part, in an interview with Grupo T21 , Horacio Arredondo, national dean of the Business School of Tecnológico de Monterrey, emphasized that integration between Mexico and the United States will continue to be the big bet .

“The value chains between the United States and Mexico are like scrambled eggs ; it’s very difficult to separate one from the other. Therefore, I believe that there needs to be continued serious investment in making them even more complex and seeing how we create these corridors,” he stated.

Arredondo noted that simplifying procedures and strengthening infrastructure and road safety will be key to improving land transport, the main driver of bilateral logistics, and emphasized the need for deeper dialogue between regulators and the private sector .

“Beyond discussing whether a particular law is good or bad, we need to think about how we can create deeper spaces for conversation so that regulation can be simpler as we introduce more and more technology,” he said.

Finally, Arredondo called for strengthening public-private cooperation as an engine of regional competitiveness and pointed out that public investment, by itself, is insufficient in a highly dynamic global environment, so it is necessary to promote robust public-private partnership models .

“There are examples all over the world where public-private investment has worked well, regardless of one’s political perspective or bias, so I believe that these collaborative options can be found as long as we understand that we need each other,” he concluded.   

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El cargo Supply chains, AI, and USMCA: key players for Mexico’s competitiveness in 2026 apareció primero en T21.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) , Jamieson Greer, expressed his support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) , despite the fact that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has indicated his disagreement with the trilateral trade agreement on several occasions

In closed-door briefings with the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on December 16 and 17, Greer asserted that the trade agreement, whose review is scheduled for July 2026, will not be automatically renewed, and that Mexico must resolve a list of outstanding issues that could define the future of the USMCA .

The topics include improvements to labor legislation and the enforcement of environmental laws. Other issues to be addressed include agricultural trade, seasonal Mexican products, origin labeling, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

The document also highlighted the work that Canada and Mexico have done in various areas, such as those related to the economy and security.

“Both Mexico and Canada expressed interest in taking action on issues of economic security,” a statement about the meeting said.

In that regard, he detailed that last week Mexico approved tariffs on more than 1,400 products from countries with which it does not have free trade agreements.

According to senators and representatives who participated in the meetings, Greer stated that the US administration supports the trilateral trade agreement and gave no indication that the United States intends to abandon it or make bilateral agreements.

Among other points, Greer assured that the USTR will engage with Mexico and Canada to determine which “deficiencies can be addressed bilaterally and which require a trilateral resolution.”

According to the document, Greer explained that the USMCA includes a novel joint review mechanism in the sixth year of validity so that it does not get stuck “with outdated rules and to allow periodic adjustments to the agreement . ”

It is worth remembering that the trilateral trade agreement is valid for 16 years, and article 34.7 states that a review must be carried out six years after its implementation, where the three countries will evaluate its functioning to see if it continues for another 16 years.

While the sectors that participated in the public consultations held in the United States showed strong support for the USMCA, almost all of them asked for improvements, he stressed.

These statements come after Trump considered letting the USMCA expire in early December in order to seek a new trade agreement .

Should this threat materialize, Mexico’s trade with the United States would be affected, and there would be a realignment of supply chains , given a possible decrease in exports as a result of the provisions contained in the new trade agreement, since more than 80% of the country’s exports to the United States are protected by the USMCA with a zero tariff.

The accumulated figures up to September 2025 for the foreign trade of the northern neighbor confirm that  Mexico remains its main partner , totaling 71 billion 774.7 million dollars (USD) in traded goods , according to the  United States Department of Commerce .

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El cargo Support for the USMCA, yes, but with substantial adjustments: USTR apareció primero en T21.

In the second half of the year, global merchandise trade could slow down, following the rebound shown in the first half of 2025 (2H25), which stemmed from advance purchases before the tariff increase and from the increase in demand for products related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to the latest Goods Trade Barometer , published by the World Trade Organization (WTO) .

This indicator, which provides real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade in relation to recent trends, fell to  101.8 points in September, compared to 102.2 in June and below the quarterly trade volume index.

According to the WTO, barometer values ​​above 100 show an upward trend, while values ​​below 100 suggest that merchandise trade has fallen below trend or will do so in the near future.

The agency indicated that all the indices that make up the barometer are above their common base value of 100, except for the agricultural commodities index , which stood at 98.

The indices related to air transport (102.7) and container transport (101.7) continue to show expansion, although at a slower pace than a few months ago, the WTO analysis detailed.

Meanwhile, the automotive products index , at 103 points, has stabilized above trend, while the electronic components index , at 102 points, showed an increase above trend in 2025.

The new export orders index stood at 102.3 points, exceeding the base value of 100 in the second quarter, following some volatility in late 2024 and early 2025. “Overall, the indices show signs of moderation in the growth of world trade.”

According to the WTO’s most recent forecasts, merchandise trade is estimated to grow by 2.4% in 2025 and 0.5% in 2026 , reflecting rising tariffs and persistent uncertainty surrounding trade policy in the second half of 2025 and into the coming year

“Merchandise trade in the first half of 2025 registered higher-than-expected growth (4.9% year-on-year), but increased tariffs and persistent uncertainty surrounding trade policies are expected to weigh on growth in the second half,” the report said.

It’s worth remembering that US President Donald Trump has initiated a trade war with several countries. Meanwhile, these protectionist measures continue to generate uncertainty for investors and global trade.

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El cargo WTO forecasts slowdown in global merchandise trade in the second half of 2025 apareció primero en T21.

During this year, 62 million tons of cargo will be moved worldwide through airlines, 6.8% above the level recorded at the end of 2023; however, revenues are expected to decline by 13% year-on-year, anticipated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“To improve profitability, resolving supply chain issues is crucial so that we can efficiently deploy fleets to meet demand,” said Willie Walsh, Director General of the organization.

Cargo revenues are expected to fall to $120 billion in 2024, down from $138 billion in 2023. Both have dropped dramatically from the peak of $210 billion in 2021 but are above the levels achieved in 2019, which were $101 billion, representing an improvement over the previous forecast of $111 billion (announced in December 2023).

“Despite the strength of demand, cargo yields are expected to fall by 17.5% in 2024, while remaining slightly above 2019 levels. This is a normalization after the extraordinary peaks of the pandemic. A key factor in this is the significant belly capacity (of aircraft) that entered the market in 2023 alongside the recovery of passenger travel,” he stated.

According to their work report, the impact comes from measures taken by countries to restrict international trade such as increased tariffs, as well as the situation in the Red Sea, the Panama Canal, and the Baltimore bridge collapse, which has once again caused a sharp drop in air cargo rates relative to maritime transport in the first quarter.

Regarding the global air cargo capacity, measured in Available Cargo Tonne Kilometers (ACTKs), it was noted that it recovered above 2019 levels in 2023, due to the reopening of China’s borders.

“This normalization of the ratio between cargo aircraft and belly cargo capacity will continue in 2024. And with the flourishing demand, it is expected that global air cargo capacity will continue to grow in 2024, albeit at a slower pace than last year,” he explained.

Overall, he indicated that air cargo is in a period of correction after an exceptional year in 2021. Yields, capacity growth, dedicated freighter belly share, and other key metrics are transitioning “from the extraordinary situation in the middle of the pandemic to a continuation of pre-pandemic trends and levels.”

During his speech at the 80th Annual General Meeting of IATA held in Dubai, he mentioned that by the end of 2024, 62 million tons of cargo will have been delivered, enabling a trade of $8.3 trillion.

At the end of May, IATA reported that air cargo demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), increased by 11.1% compared to April 2023 levels (11.6% for international operations), marking its fifth consecutive month of double-digit year-on-year growth.

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