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    July 1, 2026

    US declines to renew USMCA agreement in current form

    Written by Ethan Bernard

    The US government did not agree to renew the USMCA agreement in its current form, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday.

    “In accordance with the Agreement, the United States, Mexico, and Canada met virtually today to discuss the operation of the USMCA,” Greer said in a statement. “The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed.”

    The agreement went into effect in 2020 under the first Trump administration. It stipulated that a joint review by government officials from the countries would formally begin on July 1, 2026, six years later.

    Greer said the US will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada “to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries.”

    Still, he pointed out the agreement remains “in force pending resolution of these issues or until the agreement’s termination.”

    As previously announced, Greer said the US will meet with Mexico the week of July 20 for a third round of bilateral negotiations related to the USMCA joint review. Negotiations with Canada were not mentioned in the statement.

    As international trade attorney Alan Price noted in a June 21 column for SMU: “If consensus is not reached, USMCA remains in force but enters a period of annual reviews for the next 10 years, with a potential termination date of July 1, 2036, if no extension is ultimately agreed upon.”

    He said the USMCA allows any party to end the agreement with six months’ notice, but called this a “maximalist option” that did not appear immediately likely.

    Last month, President Trump had signaled he might not renew the agreement. The USMCA trade pact, which replaced NAFTA, was signed in 2018.

    Ethan Bernard

    Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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