Mexico City, June 24 (IANS) The Mexican government will formally propose extending the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, for another 16 years during a virtual trilateral meeting scheduled for July 1, Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard has said.
Ebrard on Tuesday (local time) said July 1 marks the start of the trade agreement’s review process, not the end of it.
He acknowledged that the negotiations are highly complex, citing as an example a discussion on steel-derived products that took several hours to determine how components used in technologies such as robots and drones should be classified because of the large number of parts and transformation processes involved.
Regarding the review mechanism, Ebrard said the governments of Mexico, the United States and Canada must state on July 1 whether they want to extend the agreement for another 16 years, reports Xinhua news agency.
In Mexico’s case, the corresponding letter will be signed by President Claudia Sheinbaum, he said.
Ebrard stressed, however, that if any party decides not to support the extension, the agreement would neither disappear nor lose its validity. Under that scenario, the USMCA would remain in force for the next 10 years.
“Your worst-case scenario is that it continues for 10 years,” Ebrard said, adding that no country had provided the six months’ advance notice required to initiate a formal withdrawal process from the agreement.
The minister said that despite US President Donald Trump’s initial threats to impose blanket tariffs of 25 per cent on Mexican imports, the agreement remains in force and most trade between Mexico and the United States remains tariff-free.
He said Mexico decided to begin talks with the United States ahead of schedule in order to reduce uncertainty and protect national interests ahead of the agreement’s review.
Ebrard said Mexico’s main challenge is to maintain and strengthen its trade integration in an international context marked by more protectionist US policies.
The three USMCA partners are expected to review the pact this year, as stipulated under its provisions.
–IANS
sd/