USMCA went into effect on July 1, 2020 and is scheduled to expire in 16 years.
Published July 1, 2026
U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer announced that the United States will not yet agree to renew trade agreements with Canada and Mexico.
“The United States did not agree to update the USMCA in its current form,” Greer said in a statement. “As a result, USMCA will not be renewed. The United States will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the deficiencies in the agreement and trade deficits with these countries.”
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Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed in an X video that the United States has chosen not to extend USMCA.
The trade deal between the three countries was submitted to the first joint enforcement review on Wednesday under a framework established during President Donald Trump’s first term.
USMCA went into effect on July 1, 2020 and is scheduled to expire in 2036.
Mexico and Canada are the United States’ largest trading partners. Until recently, Canada sent nearly 80% of its exports to the United States.
Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed Trump administration officials, that the United States feels the trade deal did not sufficiently reduce its trade deficit with its North American neighbors.
The official said the administration has no interest in prolonging negotiations with Mexico or Canada, saying “we need to reach a conclusion as soon as possible.”
“There is no real benefit.”
President Trump has repeatedly said he wishes the USMCA didn’t exist, saying in January, “There’s no real benefit to it. It’s irrelevant.”
“I don’t know if I will renew the contract,” he said on June 10, indicating he was open to negotiations with other parties to the agreement. “We’re talking to them. Let’s see if we can take some action.”
A week later, President Trump expressed further ambiguity about the US position. “I don’t want to get an agreement, but I might sign it,” he said during a visit to Paris.
If all three countries do not agree to an extension, an annual review process will begin and the USMCA will be discussed annually until 2036. Despite the US announcement on Wednesday, the USMCA will remain in effect until it expires in 10 years.
“The most likely scenario is that it enters into an annual renewal process,” Bina Najibullah, vice-president and director of research at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, a non-profit think tank, told Al Jazeera.
In response to the U.S. statement, Canadian Interior Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the three countries agreed on “the importance of continuing discussions and identifying ways to secure a trade and investment framework.”
Mr. LeBlanc reiterated Canada’s support for the agreement. In early June, LeBlanc recommended that the contract be renewed for 16 years.
The United States is scheduled to meet with Mexico during the week of July 20 to discuss updating the trade agreement.
