USMCA at Two: What Comes Next?

On July 1, 2022, the United States, Mexico and Canada reached the two-year anniversary mark of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement or USMCA. Trade Ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States marked the anniversary with a meeting in British Colombia of USMCA's "Free Trade Commission" to review work underway and next steps in the context of a challenging set of circumstances. Happily, the ministers could also point to successes in collaboration over the first two years and the fact that US-Mexico-Canada trade has rebounded above 2019 levels, despite challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions.   There, nevertheless, remains much to do to realize USMCA's potential to strengthen regional prosperity and competitiveness.

The Wilson Center has worked hard to encourage understanding of that potential for the last two years with a series of events and papers designed to flag and explain key challenges and opportunities as part of its program dedicated to USMCA and North American Cooperation.  In July 2021, the Wilson Center held a discussion at the one-year mark of the agreement looking back on the lessons learned from the first year of the USMCA. The Center has continued to follow USMCA's implementation with private conversations and publications.

On Wednesday July 20th at 1:00pm ET, the Wilson Center's Canada and Mexico Institutes hosted a discussion on what the priorities should be in the months and year ahead for implementing USMCA and how that work fits into the broader frame of strengthening North American prosperity and competitiveness. Following introductory remarks by Congressman Kevin Brady, Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne lead a panel discussion with leaders in the business and trade community from the US, Canada and Mexico.