The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) includes a built-in, mandatory, six-year review. Dozens of Democrats in Congress and hundreds of unions and civil society groups seek a major renegotiation. Contrary to President Trump’s promises that USMCA would fix North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) damage, Mexican workers are still paid less than workers in China, corporations are still offshoring U.S. jobs to Mexico, and the U.S. USMCA trade deficit has grown massively.
By July 1, 2026, the United States, Mexico, and Canada must agree to extend the USMCA for 16 years as-is or approve a revised agreement or a ten-year annual-review sunset countdown begins with the agreement ending July 1, 2036.
The domestic process for the review begins this fall:
Learn more about the required six-year review here.
The USMCA is a revision of NAFTA. This NAFTA 2.0 was negotiated during the first Trump administration and came into force in 2020. President Trump promised it would end the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico and Canada, end job offshoring, and raise wages in North America.
The renegotiation made major improvements to NAFTA, adding enforceable labor standards, and eliminating some special corporate powers, like investor-state dispute settlement between the United States and Canada. But the deal also added to NAFTA “digital trade” rules that empower Big Tech corporations to undermine our online privacy, safety, right to repair, and civil rights.
Rethink Trade provides analysis on these issues and advocates for improvements. Learn more about the USMCA and its upcoming six-year review below: