President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a major step in reshaping North American trade policy, declining to automatically extend the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during the pact’s first mandatory review.
The move signals that the White House is not satisfied with the status quo and wants significant changes before committing to another long-term extension of the trade deal that governs nearly $2 trillion in annual commerce across North America.
The USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, contains a unique review mechanism requiring the United States, Canada, and Mexico to revisit the agreement six years after it took effect.
