Trump’s chief on trade makes separate deals with Canada and Mexico
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US President Donald Trump’s chief trade negotiator says the administration is considering tearing up a three-way free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, moving toward separate deals instead.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is keeping all options on the table for the future of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) as it comes up for renewal in 2026.
But Greer, who plays a key role in all trade negotiations, including the impending review of CUSMA, is presenting a strong case for separate bilateral deals with the country’s northern and southern neighbors — a move that would end North America’s 30 years of unified free trade agreements.
“Our economic relationship with Canada is very different from our economic relationship with Mexico,” Greer said at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank focused on international affairs.
“The labor situation is different. The import-export profile is different. The rule of law is different. So it makes sense to talk about things separately with Canada and Mexico,” he said.
Canada’s Ambassador to the United States Kirstin Hillman announced that she will step down in the new year. Hillman was adamant that the decision was his and that the Prime Minister was aware of it ahead of time.
The three countries have until July 1 next year to indicate whether they want to extend the agreement, renegotiate its terms or let it expire. Greer must submit a report to the US Congress It was 180 days before that deadline – as of January 2 –This will be an indication of the intentions of the administration.
Separate talks are already underway with Canada and Mexico.
He gave no indication during Wednesday’s conversation about where the White House is leaning when it comes to CUSMA.
“Can it be taken out of? Yes, can be taken out of. Can it be modified? Yes. Can it be renegotiated? Yes,” Greer said. “All those things are on the table.”
However, he strongly hinted that there is a possibility of breaking the agreement into separate bilateral deals with Canada and Mexico.
,We’re already talking to them separately,” Greer said.
“I’ve never had a meeting this year where I sat in a room with Canada and Mexico, and we sat together and talked about the USMCA,” he said, using the American acronym for the agreement.
Greer’s comments resonate Comments made to Politico last weekWhen he said that he had recently discussed the possibility of separate talks with the US President.
“The president’s idea is that he only wants a deal that’s a good deal. We built a review period into the USMCA because we needed to modify it, review it, or get out of it,” he told the outlet.
This also comes after a public consultation held in Washington last week in which industry extolled the merits of the Canada-US-Mexico agreement and Urged the Trump administration not to abandon it,
And Greer appeared before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, telling senators that one of his key goals is to tighten CUSMA’s “rules of origin” — the nitty-gritty details in the agreement that determine whether a product qualifies for tariff-free access to all three countries based on its content.
many American industries Accusations against some Canadian companies Exploiting CUSMA’s original rules by putting cheap ingredients from China into its products, then selling them in the US under the preferential terms of the deal.
Greer said at an Atlantic Council event that rules of origin are a topic that might be best suited in a three-way agreement with Canada and Mexico.
And he suggested that critical minerals and alignment of external trade policies could also be part of a trilateral agreement – a sign he is not completely ruling out the possibility of a deal between the three countries.
