The Trump administration has declined to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free trade pact that U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated — and which took effect — during his first term in office.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the decision — which doesn’t immediately terminate the USMCA — in a statement on Wednesday after he met virtually with Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
The USMCA “requires the USMCA Free Trade Commission, composed of government representatives of each Party, to conduct a joint review of the Agreement on July 1, 2026,” Greer’s statement began.
“In accordance with the Agreement, the United States, Mexico, and Canada met virtually today to discuss the operation of the USMCA. The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed,” the U.S. trade representative said.
Greer said that the United States “will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries.”
“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,” he said.
According to Reuters, a senior U.S. official — who was not named by the news agency — said that talks in Mexico City would focus on strengthening North American rules of origin for autos and other industrial goods, and economic security to keep other countries from benefiting from USMCA access.
In early June, both Mexico and Canada notified their North American trade partners that they wished to extend the USMCA for an additional 16 years to 2042. Around a week later, Trump said he wasn’t seeking to renew the pact, which he described at the time as “sort of a good deal,” but which he once called “the best agreement we’ve ever made.”
As a result of the United States’ decision to not renew the USMCA in its current form, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada will have to conduct annual reviews of the pact before it expires in 2036. At some point in the future, the three countries could reach an agreement to extend a modified USMCA for an additional 16 years.
Trump has long railed against the United States’ trade deficits with Mexico and Canada, the two largest trade partners of the U.S. In addition to reducing those deficits, the U.S. president wants to protect U.S. industry, and to that end, has imposed tariffs on Mexican and Canadian vehicles, steel and aluminum. Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed last year to work to reduce Mexico’s trade surplus with the U.S., which in 2025 was $197 billion.
Ebrard: There will be no immediate change to the USMCA
In a video message on Wednesday, Ebrard noted that if a country wants to withdraw from the USMCA, it has to give six months’ notice to its trade partners.
He stressed that no country has expressed its intent to withdraw from the pact, which superseded NAFTA exactly six years ago on July 1, 2020.
“That has not occurred, nor do we think it will occur based on the information we have up until now,” Ebrard said.
“The first thing we need to be clear about is that,” he said.
Les comparto lo previsto en el TMEC respecto a la reunión de mañana : pic.twitter.com/QQo1BTc9qJ
— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) June 30, 2026
Ebrard said that Greer told him and LeBlanc on Wednesday that the United States is “not in the position” to be able to renew the USMCA for an additional 16 years.
“Therefore, we’re going to take the annual review track,” said the economy minister, who noted that Mexico, the U.S. and Canada could at some stage agree to renew the USMCA for 16 more years.
CNBC wrote in an article on Wednesday that yearly reviews “could result in the renegotiation of major parts of the treaty.”
In the short term, Ebrard said that the USMCA will continue working as it has been, asserting that there won’t be any immediate “modification” to the pact.
He noted that most of the trade between Mexico and the United States occurs in accordance with the USMCA, “which will remain in force, as I already said.”
Regarding annual USMCA reviews, Ebrard said that Mexico’s aim will be to reduce the number of “unresolved issues” between the parties year by year.
“In summary, the agreement continues, it’s scheduled to continue until 2036. … The current agreement won’t change in these days or in the coming months,” he said.
LeBlanc: USMCA ‘remains fully in force’
In a statement, LeBlanc said that he “reaffirmed Canada’s unwavering support for the CUSMA and its renewal” during his meeting with Ebrard and Greer. The USMCA is known as CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) in Canada and T-MEC (Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá) in Mexico.
Today, Minister LeBlanc met with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts for the #CUSMA Joint Review. He reaffirmed Canada’s support for CUSMA and its renewal. It remains in force until 2036 and can be renewed at any time for another 16-year period.
Read more: https://t.co/QApT36ny1Q pic.twitter.com/XXTaGLC3YL
— Canada Trade (@CanadaTrade) July 1, 2026
In his statement, LeBlanc also said that “the CUSMA supports millions of jobs across North America, and ensures Canadian businesses retain secure and predictable access to two of our most important trading partners.”
“It remains fully in force until 2036 and can be renewed at any time for another 16-year period,” he said.
The Canadian trade minister said that Canada, Mexico and the United States “agreed on the importance of continuing our discussions and identifying ways to ensure trade and investment frameworks between” the three countries “continue to support North American prosperity and competitiveness.”
“For Canada, this includes substantive discussions with the United States on addressing sectoral tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, autos and lumber,” LeBlanc said.
For its part, Mexico is aiming to have U.S. tariffs on Mexican vehicles, steel and aluminum lowered if not lifted completely.
LeBlanc also said that the Canadian government looks forward to “further engagement with the United States and Mexico in the coming weeks and months as we work together to strengthen our shared economic prosperity.”
The USMCA governs trade worth around US $2 trillion annually. Trade between Mexico and the United States was worth US $873 billion last year. Mexico’s exports to the U.S. were worth $535 billion in 2025, accounting for over 60% of the two-way trade total.
With reports from Reuters, CNBC and El Economista
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