U.S., Canada, and Mexico Trade Deal
October 3, 2018
On September 30, 2018, President Trump and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, agreed on a last minute trade deal. They hope this deal will “give our workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region”. Mexico also has joined in on this deal. The 3 countries agreed to change their name from NAFTA to the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement).
The new agreement put changes into some of the old NAFTA provisions including: International Settlement Dispute, Dairy, Autos and Tariffs. This agreement was from an agreement reached in August with Mexico.
Before you get too excited from this news, remember that this still needs to be ratified by Congress before it can be fully effective. Before the deal was made, it turns out that Canada was not included in the revised USMCA. Lawmakers from both U.S. parties have urged the White House to include Canada in the revised USMCA saying that if they don’t, it could “disrupt supply chains, cost jobs and slow the United States economy. Now that Canada is a part of this new USMCA, it has a better chance of it being ratified by Congress. Congress will not be voting on this issue until early next year. Let’s hope that this works out for everybody involved!