The Mexican government will formally propose extending the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, for another 16 years during a virtual trilateral meeting scheduled for July 1.
Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard has said, July 1 marks the start of the trade agreement’s review process, not the end of it.
He acknowledged that the negotiations are highly complex, citing as an example a discussion on steel-derived products that took several hours to determine how components used in technologies such as robots and drones should be classified because of the large number of parts and transformation processes involved.
The minister said that despite US President Donald Trump’s initial threats to impose blanket tariffs of 25% on Mexican imports, the agreement remains in force and most trade between Mexico and the United States remains tariff-free.
He said Mexico decided to begin talks with the United States ahead of schedule in order to reduce uncertainty and protect national interests ahead of the agreement’s review.