US, Canada, Mexico to sign new deal
The US, Canada and Mexico will sign their new trade deal on Friday following a year of intense negotiations to revamp the continent’s free trade zone - and after US President Donald Trump’s threats to kill it.
The countries plan to ink the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement in Buenos Aires at the start of the Group of 20 summit, three officials familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Leaders from the three countries will be present for the ceremony, though it’s unclear whether the heads of state will sign the document or cabinet-level officials.
Putting pen to paper will bring some certainty at a time of unease over global trade tensions, and be held up as an example of Trump-era deals as he prepares to meet China’s Xi Jinping at the G-20. The world’s two biggest economies are embroiled in an escalating trade war.
Several hurdles remain. The agreement needs ratification to take effect, almost certainly by the next US Congress. Some parts will kick in immediately, such as a deal exempting Canada and Mexico from US auto tariffs. The fine print is still being tweaked, and Canada and Mexico remain at odds with the US over tariffs on steel and alumin-
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ium. The pact would update a 1994 deal between the countries, which trade more than $1 trillion annually.
“There are always details to be finalised and we are very hard at work doing that,” Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Thursday in Buenos Aires. “We’re just being sure that all the Is are dotted, all the Ts are crossed.”
Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are all at the G-20, though none has publicly confirmed they’ll be the ones to sign. The nations had been rushing to have the pact inked by Friday - Pena Nieto’s last day in office. It’s possible ministers could sign, one person said.
Matt Pascuzzo, a spokesman for Trudeau, confirmed on Thursday evening that the prime minister would be present for the event at 9am local time, joined by Trump and Pena Nieto.
Canada struck a deal with the US on September 30 to avoid the US and Mexico proceeding without it. It overhauls rules affecting wide swaths of the economy - requiring more high-wage content in auto manufacturing, opening Canada’s protected dairy market and allowing more duty-free shipments into Canada and Mexico.
Lawyers for the countries are still finalising and translating the text of the agreement, a process known as a legal scrub.
Two Canadian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it’s normal at this stage for that process to be ongoing. One said it could continue for weeks after the signing. Under US trade law, the Trump administration has to submit the final text of the deal to Congress at least 30 days before it can send legislation that US lawmakers would need to vote on to ratify the USMCA.