Donald Trump , President of the United States, considered the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to be “very effective”; however, he accused his partners of “not respecting it,” and warned that it will soon be renegotiated to “adjust or terminate it.”
“It’s been very effective and continues to be very effective, but people have to respect it, and that’s been a problem. People haven’t respected it,” said the leader of our northern neighbor.
He recalled that the USMCA, which Trump himself negotiated during his first term, was a better deal than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) , which he described as the worst trade agreement in the United States and “probably in the history of the world.”
In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney , Donald Trump indicated that the USMCA, which he called “a transitional agreement,” is about to expire and will be “renegotiated very soon.”
It’s worth remembering that this review, which will take place in 2026, was stipulated by the three countries that make up this trade agreement.
Since beginning his second term as president of the United States, Trump has pursued a protectionist economic policy and launched a tariff war with several countries around the world, which he himself paused for 90 days.
At the meeting, held at the White House , Carney emphasized that the agreement “is the basis for broader negotiations. Some things are going to have to change.”
The USMCA, which replaced NAFTA, entered into force on July 1, 2020, and represented an update to the trade rules between the three member countries. It includes chapters on digital trade, intellectual property, the environment, and labor standards.
According to the Ministry of Economy (SE) , the USMCA is the best deal the region has ever had, since, to highlight some figures, it employs 17 million people at the regional level, generates approximately 3.1 million dollars (mdd) per minute and represents 30% of the world’s GDP .
In addition, it has strengthened the national economy, as well as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) linked to the relocation of production lines in Mexico ( nearshoring ).
These figures reflect the importance of this trilateral agreement for the North American region . Therefore, given its revision and the uncertainty caused by the United States’ tariff policy, it is essential that negotiators try to conduct the next negotiation on good terms, in which, as various analysts have reported, a tense atmosphere will prevail.
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