Home : United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement (Usmca)
On November 30, 2018, the USMCA was signed as planned by the three parties at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. [58] [59] Disputes over labour rights, steel and aluminum prevented ratification of this version of the agreement. [60] [61] Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer, and Mexican Under-Secretary of State for North America Jesus Seade officially signed a revised agreement on December 10, 2019, ratified by the three countries on March 13, 2020. To facilitate the strengthening of cross-border trade, the United States has reached an agreement with Mexico and Canada to increase the value of de minimis delivery. For the first time in decades, Canada will increase its de minimis level from $20 to $40 for taxes. Canada will also offer duty-free shipments of up to 150 $US. Mexico will continue to provide $50 of tax-exempt de minimis and will also provide duty-free shipments up to the equivalent of $117. Shipping rates to this level would be achieved with minimum formal entry procedures, which would allow more businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to be part of cross-border trade. The "Environment" chapter contains the most comprehensive environmental commitments applicable to a previous U.S. agreement, including obligations to combat trade in wild plants, wood and fish; Strengthen law enforcement networks to curb human trafficking; and address pressing environmental issues, such as air quality and marine waste. The agreed text of the agreement was signed by the heads of state and government of the three countries on November 30, 2018, as an incidental event at the 2018 G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. [34] The English, Spanish and French versions will also be binding and the agreement will take effect after ratification by the three states through the adoption of enabling laws.
[35] The agreement between the United States of America, the United States of Mexico and Canada[1], commonly known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), is a free trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States, which succeeds the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). [2] [3] [4] The agreement has been referred to as NAFTA 2.0[5][7][7] or "New ALEFTA[8][9],[9] since many nafta provisions have been introduced and its amendments have been found to be largely incremental.