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NAFTA | USMCA

North America Free Trade Agreement | US-Mexico-Canada Agreement

Why CUSMA isn’t going to stop US tariffs if Trump wants them to happen
3-Feb-2025 CBC
Economics and trade law experts say the US could, under CUSMA, cite national security as a rationale for its actions and plow ahead with tariffs knowing Canada can’t prevent that from happening.
Senators demand US trade chief Tai halt late talks on investor protections
16-Jan-2025 Reuters
A bipartisan group of US senators called on US Trade Representative to stop negotiations with Mexico, Canada and Colombia that they say would weaken investor protections in some US free trade deals during the Biden administration’s final days.
United States prevails in USMCA dispute on biotech corn
24-Dec-2024 USTR
The United States has prevailed in its dispute under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement challenging certain Mexican biotechnology measures concerning genetically engineered corn.
United States requests USMCA rapid response labor mechanism dispute settlement panel at Bader de Mexico facility
19-Dec-2024 USTR
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that the United States has, for a fifth time, requested a Rapid Response Labor Mechanism panel under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Canada says North American free trade partners should be fully aligned on China
2-Dec-2024 Reuters
Canada thinks the members of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact have a chance to produce a fully aligned policy on China, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
Afraid of losing the US-Canada trade pact, Mexico alters its laws and removes Chinese parts
25-Nov-2024 AP
Mexico has been taking a bashing lately for allegedly serving as a conduit for Chinese parts and products into North America.
Mexico tweaks reform on scrapping regulatory bodies to avoid USMCA issues
22-Nov-2024 Reuters
The ruling majority approved the general text of the constitutional amendment to abolish seven autonomous watchdogs including the transparency institute, antitrust body and the telecoms regulator.
Third-party funder is the only winner in Odyssey Marine Exploration’s suit against Mexico
21-Oct-2024 Inequality.org
The country will likely have to pay over $30 million to an American litigation firm because it wanted to protect its environment from harmful seabed mining.
Stricter rules of origin won’t help Michigan’s auto workers
9-Oct-2024 The Hill
The United States International Trade Commission found that, through 2022, there were “few signs” that USMCA’s rules of origin had led to changes in production, trade, employment and investment or competitiveness.
Mexico loses phosphate mining lawsuit in controversial arbitration process
27-Sep-2024 Mongabay
Odyssey Marine Exploration, a deep-sea mining company based in Florida, sued Mexico after rejecting environmental permits for a phosphate mining project off the coast of the state of Baja California Sur.
Odyssey Marine Exploration reports win in NAFTA arbitration case
18-Sep-2024 Business Wire
The award orders Mexico to pay US$37.1 million for breaching its obligations under NAFTA, plus interest.
How NAFTA broke American politics
4-Sep-2024 New York Times
Since its passage in 1993, the trade agreement has played an outsize role in presidential elections — which now often hinge on the three Rust Belt states it helped to hollow out.
US escalates efforts to halt Ottawa’s digital services tax
2-Sep-2024 CBC
The Office of the United States Trade Representative has requested dispute settlement consultations with Ottawa under the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement.
TC Energy loses $15-billion NAFTA lawsuit against US
19-Jul-2024 The Monitor
The welcome decision shines a light on Canada’s flawed defence in similar investor-state case against Canada.
Dismissal of $15 billion NAFTA legacy case on Keystone XL pipeline is welcome, but billions in egregious claims still remain
17-Jul-2024 Public Citizen
The World Bank has dismissed Canadian oil company TC Energy’s $15 billion ISDS case against the US sought due to lack of jurisdiction.
Next steps on the USMCA corn case: What the panelists should ask
25-Jun-2024 IATP
This week the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) dispute over Mexico’s restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn and glyphosate enters a new phase.
NAFTA at 30: The mother of all free trade agreements
13-Jun-2024 bilaterals.org & GRAIN
As the first free trade agreement in contemporary history, the North American Free Trade Agreement, turns 30, it’s a good time to ask why this particular treaty played such a watershed role in the history of the global regime of trade and investment.
Unifor lays down priorities for CUSMA review
7-Jun-2024 Unifor
Unifor laid down the union’s priorities for the 2026 review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in testimony by Unifor National President.
Anticipating the 2026 CUSMA review
6-Jun-2024 TIRP
The mandatory six-year review of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement is still more than two years away, but TIRP researchers are ahead of the game.
bilaterals.org podcast: NAFTA’s 30th anniversary
9-May-2024 bilaterals.org
Special edition on the 30th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 1994 and inspired many free trade agreements that were subsequently signed around the world.