US President Donald Trump has once again raised the issue of the continuation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) , suggesting he might let it expire in order to seek a new trade agreement, which would negatively impact US trade with the United States and disrupt supply chains.
It is worth remembering that the USMCA was negotiated during the first term of the current occupant of the White House and came into effect in July 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) .
“It’s something that’s in progress. It expires in about a year, and we’ll let it expire, or maybe we’ll negotiate another agreement with Mexico and Canada,” Trump said at a press conference.
The US president asserted that Mexico and Canada, its main North American trading partners, have taken advantage of the United States, “like almost every other country,” and accused the previous administration, headed by Joe Biden, of incompetence.
At the conference, Trump defended his tariff policy , which, he pointed out, has caused automotive companies to return to the United States.
This is not the first time the US president has expressed his disagreement with the USMCA. On July 1, he called the trilateral trade agreement a “disaster.” “We are going to need the support of Congress to end this agreement, which is the worst in our history .”
Also, in October he raised the possibility of signing bilateral treaties with Mexico and Canada.
The review of the USMCA is scheduled for July 2026. Just last November, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy (SE) concluded consultations on the review of this agreement , which took place during October of this year, and which served as a space for direct dialogue with 30 productive sectors and with key actors in each of the 32 states of the country .
The trade agreement is valid for 16 years , and article 34.7 states 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.
Should Trump’s recent 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 August 2025 for the foreign trade of the northern neighbor confirm that Mexico remains its main trading partner , reaching a total of goods traded for 74 billion 396 million dollars (USD), surpassing Canada, which obtained 56 billion 590 million USD, and China, with 33 billion 405 million USD, according to the United States Department of Commerce .
Meanwhile, Mexican exports to the United States in August totaled $45.146 billion, an increase of 3.3% compared to the same month in 2024.
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