U.S. and Mexico kick off bilateral talks ahead of USMCA review
Technical discussions focus on gaps in key North American supply chains and policy options to address the gaps.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard met in Washington, D.C., March 18 to kick off bilateral technical discussions in advance of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) joint review on July 1.
“Technical teams were instructed to review specific options for increasing U.S. and Mexican production and manufacturing employment while limiting non-market inputs into North American supply chains,” USTR said in a news release. “During the technical discussions, the groups discussed gaps in key North American supply chains and policy options to address those gaps, including through increased cooperation on economic security, rules of origin and complementary trade actions.”
Greer and Ebrard directed their technical teams to set up a regular schedule of meetings to continue the discussions and identify “key deliverables” before the joint review.
In his report to Congress about USMCA and the Administration’s strategy for the joint review, Greer pointed out that U.S. exports of goods and services to Canada and Mexico have risen 56 percent since the agreement took effect in 2020. He emphasized, however, more can be done to address shortcomings that have emerged.
As part of the review process, USTR published a Federal Register notice on Sept. 17 requesting stakeholder comments on the operation of USMCA. Greer noted many comments were in favor of extending USMCA but also called for changes to improve the trade agreement. Some concerns from agricultural stakeholders included Mexico’s protection of European cheese and meat terms; the impact of Mexico’s seasonal produce on U.S. growers; Canada’s market access for U.S. dairy products, and Canada’s nonfat milk solids exports.
For example, Tony Rice, senior director of trade policy for the National Milk Producers Federation, said USMCA has brought “tremendous” benefits for the U.S. dairy industry – to the tune of $4 billion in exports in 2025 – “but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, starting with U.S. dairy access to Canada. Canada made several commitments that they frankly haven’t fulfilled since the implementation.”
One of those commitments is market access. “On paper, Canada committed to expanding their tariff rate quotas for a series of dairy quotas for U.S. dairy exports. But in practice, what we’ve seen is inability for our exporters to actually meet the demand in Canada and fill those quotas,” Rice said. “We’re not trying to crack open the market further; it’s more so making sure we get the access that was already negotiated in the USMCA.”
Another is Canada finding ways to circumvent the threshold agreed to in USMCA that would trigger a surcharge on its nonfat milk solids exports to the U.S., he added.
When Greer delivered the report at a Senate hearing in December, he said USMCA’s shortcomings are great enough that “a rubberstamp of the agreement is not in the national interest.” He added USTR will work with Mexico and Canada ahead of the review “to determine which shortcomings can be addressed on a bilateral basis and which require trilateral resolution.”
The USMCA review process will include both bilateral and trilateral talks among the three members. The U.S. and Mexico are further along in their discussions. “Canada has opted instead to hold off on engagement with the United States until USMCA consultations begin on various bilateral issues identified by Washington, including concerns about market access for U.S. dairy products,” The Chicago Council on Global Affairs reported.
