President Donald Trump declined on Wednesday to renew the trilateral North American trade deal he negotiated to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement during his first term in office.
Trump previously said that he was leaning against renewing the deal in order to continue separate trade talks with both Canada and Mexico.
The decision, however, does not formally close the book on the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, according to senior Trump administration officials. Instead, the process starts a “sunset clause” review period, where the three countries can continue to revisit the agreement and potentially sign a renewal in the future.
“The United States will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries,” United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “However, the Agreement remains in force pending resolution of these issues or until the Agreement’s termination. As previously announced, the United States will meet with Mexico the week of July 20 for a third round of bilateral negotiations related to the USMCA joint review.”
Trump officials have been engaged in bilateral trade talks with both countries since the president reentered office last year. A senior U.S. official confirmed that America’s trade deficits with the other agreement partners were the main reasons for Wednesday’s decision not to renew the deal.
TRUMP DENIES CONFLICT OF INTEREST OVER MORE THAN $1 BILLION IN CRYPTO GAINS
Both Canada and Mexico have indicated that Trump’s sectoral tariffs, on steel, aluminum, and other goods, represented major barriers to advancing ongoing trade talks, but a senior U.S. official declined to say if the president was considering any sectoral tariff relief for either Canada or Mexico.
“Do they want adjustments? Yes, they do,” that person stated. “Are we in a position to give that? I don’t know.”
“We have been focused on maintaining American supply chains and incentivizing American production. That is job number one,” that person continued. “So, if there were any adjustments to either of these, it would have to be something that met the president’s goals and objectives, which is to reduce the trade deficit and mutual mechanisms, so it’s a little hard to see how the president’s goals would coincide with an adjustment. We know that they’re interested in this, and obviously it’s going to be up to President Trump to decide whether or not any kind of adjustments are warranted.”
JAY CLAYTON CONFIRMATION HEARING RESCHEDULED FOR MID-JULY
Despite lingering tensions among the three countries, U.S. officials expressed optimism that “our partners have shown an interest in resolving issues.”
“They’ve made some movements on intellectual property, so we’ve seen that in some ways the ball is in their court a little bit,” one official explained. “I could see a world where we have a protocol with Mexico or a protocol with Canada within President Trump’s term, right? I think that’s definitely possible, if those protocols or if those agreements are really geared to and have the outcome of reducing our deficits in those countries.”
