The Trump administration’s trade office announced Wednesday that it will begin the first of three negotiating sessions with Mexico this week to overhaul the North American trade pact, while notably excluding Canada from the discussions.
According to a statement from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Goettman will head bilateral discussions in Mexico City on Thursday and Friday, concentrating on “economic security and rules of origin for key industrial goods.”
The trade office outlined that the United States and Mexico will conduct a second negotiating session in Washington on June 16-17, targeting agriculture and “a level playing field,” followed by a third round of discussions in Mexico City during the week of July 20.
“The negotiations will focus on ensuring that the USMCA benefits U.S. manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, workers, and service suppliers, and businesses of all sizes, including our small and medium-sized enterprises,” the trade office stated.
During the first Trump presidency, three-way negotiating sessions included both Mexico and Canada to establish the current USMCA, which superseded the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.
However, the trade office’s announcement made no reference to bilateral discussions with Canada. Limited conversations have occurred between U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and his Canadian counterpart, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, since early March, with no official start to a U.S.-Canada negotiating framework.
During remarks Tuesday in Washington, Greer indicated the United States faces “significant” trade disagreements with Ottawa that will prove challenging to resolve, particularly noting that Canada has refused to accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff implementation on Canadian vehicles, steel and aluminum, and has not negotiated trade compromises like other major trading partners Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Britain and the European Union.
Greer criticized Canada for responding to U.S. actions with retaliatory tariffs on U.S. vehicles, steel and aluminum, pointing out that only Canada and China had retaliated against U.S. tariffs. Multiple Canadian provinces have also removed U.S. liquor products from retail shelves.
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed that Canada’s military was in negotiations to purchase Swedish early warning radar aircraft from Saab instead of buying from U.S.-based Boeing.
Greer stated the United States plans to maintain certain tariff levels on both Mexican and Canadian products under USMCA, which together with NAFTA, established a North American duty-free trade zone for over thirty years that supported nearly $1.6 trillion in three-way commerce.
He indicated both countries could receive favorable treatment if agreements can be reached to shield the North American region from external products, including those from China, through increased tariffs and strengthened rules of origin for automobiles and industrial products.
Greer explained the rules of origin would aim to promote increased production, though he did not provide specific details regarding U.S. requirements.
“I think that over the course of these negotiations, we are going to be talking about rules of origin in a way that enhances U.S. content in these goods,” Greer commented regarding the Mexico discussions.
