The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer expects talks over the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to extend beyond July 1. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that a key question for the review is whether the deal will remain a trilateral pact or split into two separate bilateral agreements. President Donald Trump has called it "irrelevant" and considered leaving.
"Our baseline is that things have to be changed," Mr. Greer said about the USMCA. But he suggested that the main part of the agreement would probably stay the same, while the U.S. would aim to resolve specific bilateral issues with Canada and Mexico through separate side agreements.
The existing agreement has "a bunch of load-bearing pillars" that function well, Mr. Greer said. "If we get rid of them, I just have to go back and do it again. But we do have to have some kind of a protocol or something with Mexico, and one with Canada separately, I think, to deal with issues specific to those countries," he said.
Canada's trade team in Washington has recently re-engaged with the Trump administration after months of little contact. Formal USMCA review talks between Washington and Ottawa have yet to start.
© 2026 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.