Mexico not seeking a separate trade deal with the United ...

WASHINGTON – On July 21, the United States will meet with Mexico in Mexico City for the third bilateral negotiating round related to the Joint Review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Negotiating teams will convene for three days to advance discussions on issues regarding trade in steel and aluminum and derivative products, automobiles, economic security, labor, agriculture, and electronic payment services.

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By David LawderU.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday that formal trade talks with Mexico were progressing, while discussions with Canada had yet to produce concessions sought by President Donald Trump as he pushes to reduce U.S. trade deficits with the two countries."So, it's…

Canada is calling on the U.S. and Mexico to renew the free trade agreement among their three countries for 16 more years just as President Donald Trump revives talk of making Canada the 51st state.

The two countries are in the thick of negotiations over the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which is now entering a rolling, annual review process after the countries missed a July 1 deadline.

It’s been two weeks since the U.S. was the lone party to formally refuse to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The treaty is currently set to expire in a decade. Renewal would have kicked its expiration to 2042, giving businesses more certainty to plan North American investment. While a consensus on renewal can be given at any time, the Trump administration’s refusal initiates annual reviews to resolve issues. Negotiations with Mexico are “going well” and have been “quite pragmatic,” said Greer, who heads to Mexico City next week for the third round of bilateral USMCA negotiations.

The Trump administration opted not to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. But the trade agreement will still remain intact as talks continue. ... Trump wants to ditch his signature trade deal.

The USMCA is, in effect, a North American Free Trade Agreement 2.0, which was first signed in 1994. Since USMCA came into force in July 2020, during US President Donald Trump’s first administration, it has served as a political cornerstone of economic relations between the US, Mexico, and Canada. At that time, Trump called the deal a “wonderful” and “historical transaction.” However, the US leader has recently declared that he thinks the deal is not working and should be scrapped.

One journal article noted that ... of the USMCA is similar to that surrounding all free trade agreements (FTAs); for instance, the nature of FTAs as public goods, potential infringements of national sovereignty, and the role of business, labor, environmental, and consumer interests in shaping the language of trade deals. The agreement is referred to differently by each signatory—in the United States, it is called the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement ...