CUSMA Review 2026…First Steps

The United States Trade Representative office is holding three days of hearings this week “regarding the operation of the Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA) in preparation for the first Six-Year Joint Review of the USMCA on July 1, 2026” (Source: USTR website). A wide range of interests were scheduled to appear. See USTR Witness List document

The Government of Canada has launched a consultative process in advance of the review as well. See Canada Consultations. A report is to be issued shortly.

How will the Review Work?

This hearing is, of course, just the beginning of a process. And it is a convoluted one to boot. The U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies has provided an excellent overview of the Mechanics of the 2026 USMCA (CUSMA) Review.

The USMCA’s review clause was not conceived as a technical innovation, but as a political compromise. When the first Trump administration launched the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2017, it sought a mechanism that would give Washington lasting leverage over its partners. The resulting compromise became Article 34.7, which established a 16-year term and a mandatory review after 6 years, in 2026, at which point the three governments must decide whether to extend the agreement to 2042, place it under annual reviews, or allow it to expire in 2036. The following diagram traces the key phases and decision points of this process.

Source: CSIS

See the full story here, itself with some excellent links to other papers.

CSIS has also produced a very clear graphic which tracks the various paths that could be taken vis a vis the Review in the future.

The December 2025 Hearing…what is it hearing?

So, at the beginning of this process, what is being said in the U.S.? In general, the major “horizontal” business associations and many U.S. agriculture, business and policy groups urging the Trump administration not to scrap the agreement. Speaker after speaker called for an extension of the agreement, emphasizing how its free trade terms have allowed their sector to boost revenues through access to both the Canadian and Mexican markets. Of course that view is not unanimous. U.S. steel and dairy interests have complaints, as do some others.

At the same time President Trump made comments that suggest that it may not really matter what the views of U.S. groups are because he has his own views…

“We’ll either let it expire, or we’ll maybe work out another deal with Mexico and Canada,” Trump said at the White House.

“Mexico and Canada have taken advantage of the United States like just about every other country,” he continued before launching into a defence of his tariffs.

(Source: CBC reporting)

I have tried to capture as many links as I can find to the testimony over the past three days so you can read for yourself who said what. (Not all organizations post their testimony in real time) If I have time I will refresh this list as more get posted.