US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Senate Finance Committee on 22 July 2026 that the Trump administration aims to lock in separate interim trade arrangements with Mexico and Canada by December while deferring rules-of-origin and labour provisions to 2027, nearly two weeks after Trump declined to renew the six-year-old USMCA on 1 July and triggered a 10-year countdown to expiration.
US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer signalled this week that the Trump administration has abandoned hope of completing a full USMCA overhaul this year.
Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee on 22 July 2026, Greer said he aimed to lock in separate interim deals with Mexico and Canada by year-end, while deferring the complex questions—auto content rules, labour standards, environmental compliance—to 2027.
“I’m hopeful that before the end of the year, we could have at least options for President Trump and the leaders of Canada and Mexico to consider potential interim arrangements or things that Canada can do on the one hand and Mexico can do on the other hand to strengthen enforcement and to improve their commitments toward us,” Greer told the Senate Finance Committee on 22 July, adding that US proposals for stricter rules of origin and labour-related provisions are expected to be addressed next year.Â
“I would love to have by the end of the year at least some arrangements — one with Canada, one with Mexico,” Greer told a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is now subject to annual reviews after the US declined to extend the trade pact for another 16 years.
While Canada remains a key US supplier of steel, aluminium, lithium, natural gas, oil and electricity, and Mexico supplies significant amounts of silver and steel, the latest US tariffs imposed on Canadian goods on 20 July largely exempted metals.
The timeline amounts to a public acknowledgement that business uncertainty will persist well into next year.
Mexico and Canada have been pressing for quick wins, particularly relief from Section 232 tariffs Trump imposed last year: 25% on autos, 50% on steel and aluminium. This week alone, Trump escalated by threatening 50% duties on roughly USD 20 billion in Canadian imports including beer, dairy, and hockey sticks.
What’s negotiable now, what isn’t
Greer said he would present options to Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney by December. Mexico broadly backs the US push to raise regional auto content (a stated effort to keep Chinese components out of North American vehicles), but wants tariff cuts first.
Canada sits on the sidelines for now—excluded from the bilateral Mexico City talks, a positioning that risks forcing it to swallow terms it didn’t shape.
Trump is also tying trade concessions to unrelated demands: stricter Mexican border security and compliance with a 1944 Rio Grande water treaty that obligates Mexico to supply Texas irrigation water. Greer made plain that without movement on those fronts, the president will resist even a modest interim agreement.
The six-year-old USMCA underpins roughly USD 1.6 trillion in regional trade.
On 1 July 2026, Trump chose not to renew the pact, triggering a 10-year countdown to its expiration unless all three countries agree to changes. That countdown clock is now running.
