The Trump Administration’s new trilateral trade agreement, rebranded as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), is meant to replace the North American Free Tree Agreement (NAFTA) and to set out a new framework for U.S. trade agreements, assuming it secures Congressional passage. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has called the USMCA a “paradigm-shifting model,” as the Trump administration looks to negotiate agreements with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
While many USMCA provisions mirror the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiated by the Obama administration, USMCA reflects a different balance of priorities. Broadly consistent with the Obama administration, the Trump administration has prioritized the knowledge economy as befits American strengths, but the Trump administration has also sought to favor local manufacturing, shorten supply chains and set precedents for future trading rules addressing state-dominated economies.