The future of free trade in North America
4/14/202625 min
The deadline to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – the agreement that governs free trade in North America, also known as the USMCA – is less than three months away. Canada and Mexico are coming to these trade talks from very different positions: Mexico has been deep in technical discussions for some time, whereas Canada’s talks with the U.S. only resumed over the last few months after stalling out back in October.
The Globe’s economics reporter, Mark Rendell, joins us today to break down the different dynamics at play and what to expect leading up to July 1.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com
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First 90 secondsCheryl Sutherland· Host0:00
[upbeat music] The July 1st deadline to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, also known as the USMCA, is fast approaching. And last week, Jamieson Greer, the top trade official for the US, signaled that the trilateral trade agreement between the three countries will likely end up having a whole lot of bilateral elements to it. Canada and Mexico are coming to these trade talks from very different positions, and with less than three months to go, a lot is on the line. So today we're talking to Mark Rendell. He's The Globe's economics reporter. He'll catch us up on where these talks are at and what to make of how each country is approaching negotiations. I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. [upbeat music] Hi, Mark. Thanks so much for joining me today.
Mark Rendell· Guest0:57
Thanks for having me again.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host0:59
So Mark, the USMCA July 1st deadline is coming up. So can you remind us what this deadline actually means?
Mark Rendell· Guest1:06
So on July 1st, Canada, Mexico, and the US have to sit down together and say what they plan to do for this North American Free Trade pact. So back in twenty-twenty, when the USMCA, what we call CUSMA in Canada, came into force, it included this six-year review date. And so six years from when it came into