Canada Seeks 16-Year Cusma Trade Agreement Renewal in Letter
Canada has pushed for a cusma trade agreement renewal, with Dominic LeBlanc writing to his U.S. and Mexican counterparts on Tuesday to recommend a 16-year extension of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The letter lands before a July 1 decision point that could lock in a longer term or shift the deal into annual reviews for 10 years.
LeBlanc wrote that the agreement is highly beneficial to each of the three countries and to the integrated North American economy. If the three countries do not agree to extend it, the deal would expire after a decade under the annual-review scenario, and any country can withdraw with six months’ notice.
LeBlanc’s Tuesday letter
LeBlanc, Canada’s Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, said in his letter, "Canada recommends renewal" and added, "The Agreement is highly beneficial to each of our countries and to the integrated North American economy." The letter set out Canada’s preference plainly: a renewal for another 16 years rather than a stopgap review cycle.
Mark Carney also described the wider task facing Ottawa on Tuesday, saying, "We’re trying to find a new partnership with the U.S. in strategic areas" before heading into a cabinet meeting in Ottawa. He said the U.S. has about 30 different trade issues with Canada and nearly 60 with Mexico, putting the USMCA review inside a broader set of unresolved trade disputes.
Washington’s Separate Track
The U.S. has opened formal talks on reviewing the agreement with Mexico but has not done the same with Canada. That leaves Ottawa in a narrower lane than Mexico as the July 1 deadline approaches, even though Jamieson Greer intends to renegotiate key aspects of the agreement.
Canada wants Washington to remove or lower its sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber. The U.S. wants Canada to change how it allocates dairy quotas and how it regulates video streaming companies, and it wants provincial governments to put U.S. liquor back on shelves.
July 1 Decision Point
The immediate friction is not over whether the agreement matters, but over what shape it should take next. On July 1, the three countries must decide whether to extend the USMCA for 16 years or move to annual reviews for 10 years, and officials from all three countries have said they expect negotiations to continue beyond that date.
For businesses tied to North American trade, the practical issue now is whether Ottawa, Washington and Mexico City can settle the review into a long extension or keep the agreement under yearly scrutiny. The next hard checkpoint is the July 1 decision, after which the three governments can either commit to the longer runway or keep the deal on a shorter clock.
