The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA; Spanish: Acuerdo Estados Unidos-México-Canadá, AEUMC; French: Accord états-Unis-Mexique-Canada, AéUMC) is a pending free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, intended to replace the current North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA is the result of the 2017-2018 renegotiation of NAFTA by its member states. The countries informally agreed to the terms on September 30, 2018 and formally agreed to the terms on October 1, 2018.The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is based on the North American Free Trade Agreement which originally came into effect on on January 1, 1994. The agreement was the result of more than a year of negotiations including threats of tariffs by the United Statesagainst Canada in addition to the possibility of separate bilateral deals instead.
An initial agreement with Mexico was reached before finalization with Canada. Since Mexico’s outgoing president, Enrique Peña Nieto, will leave office on December 1, 2018, and 60 days are required as a review period, the deadline for providing the agreed text was the end of September 30, 2018. Negotiators worked around the clock to complete the agreement less than 1 hour before midnight of that date. The agreement will take effect after being passed into law and signed by each country. On October 1st 2018, Canada and US agreed on the terms for the USMCA.
Provisions of the agreement cover a wide range, including agricultural produce, manufactured products, labor conditions, digital trade, among others. More prominent aspects of the agreement gave US dairy farmers greater access to the Canadian market, guidelines to have a higher proportion of automobiles manufactured in the US or Mexico, and a retaining of the dispute resolution system similar to what was included in NAFTA. The dairy provisions are similar, but slightly higher, to those Canada agreed to in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), giving the U.S. access to 3.6%, up from 3.25% under TPP, of the $15.2 billion (as of 2016) Canadian dairy market.[4][5]Canada agreed to eliminate Class 7 pricing provisions on certain dairy products, while Canada's domestic supply management system remains in place.[6] Canada agreed to raise the duty-free limit on purchases from the U.S. to $150 from the previous $20 level. To qualify for zero tariffs, a car or truck must have 75 percent of its components manufactured in Canada, Mexico or the United States, a substantial boost from the current 62.5 percent requirement. Additionally, at least 30 percent of the work on the vehicle done by workers earning $16 an hour.