Trump Pledges to Renegotiate Free Trade Deal With Canada and Mexico If Elected

Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald J. Trump, speaks at the Detroit Economic Club in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 10, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to renegotiate the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA) if he wins the U.S. presidential election in November.

“Upon taking office, I will formally notify Mexico and Canada of my intention to invoke the six-year renegotiation provisions of the USMCA that I put in,” Trump announced in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 10.

USMCA, which came into effect in 2020 as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is up for review in 2026. The three countries will confirm whether they will extend the deal or re-negotiate it.

Trump said the USMCA clause allowing for re-negotiation after six years “was the hardest thing I had to get.”

“They didn’t want that. But I wanted to,” Trump said of the clause negotiations. “I said, ‘Nope, I want to be able to renegotiate in six years. Otherwise, we’re not making the deal.’ And I got it, and it’s coming due very soon.”

In his speech, Trump reiterated that he would be open to imposing tariffs on imports into the United States. He has previously said that if re-elected, he would impose 10 to 20 percent tariffs on all imports into the United States. The tariffs would increase to 60 percent on all imports from China, and 100 percent for countries that shun the U.S. dollar.

In 2018, Trump imposed tariffs on most countries of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, which led Canada to respond in a similar manner. Those tariffs were lifted in 2019. The Trump administration then stated in 2020 that it would re-introduce tariffs on Canadian aluminum, effective Aug. 16 that year, but withdrew the request the following month.

The former president also said he would seek new protections against transshipment, which is when cargo is transferred from one container to another while in transit to its final destination. “China and other countries cannot smuggle their products and auto parts into the United States tax-free through Mexico, to the detriment of our workers and our supply chains,” Trump said of his reasoning for the protections.

During his presidency, Trump re-negotiated NAFTA with a new policy dictating that 75 percent of auto components must come from North America—up from the previous 62.5 percent—to qualify for zero tariffs. The new deal also incentivized the use of high-wage manufacturing labour of at least $16 per hour, which was expected to boost production in the United States and Canada.

As part of the new deal, Canada had to make adjustments to its supply management scheme by providing new trade privileges exclusively for the United States in the dairy market. A private member’s bill from the Bloc Québécois currently making its way through the Senate, Bill C-282, would protect Canada’s supply managed dairy, egg, and poultry sectors from trade concessions.

Speaking to reporters at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit on Oct. 11, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there is a “a certain amount of protectionist sentiment in the United States right now,” and many countries have turned away from trade deals. However, he said Canada had successfully “bucked that trend” by making trade deals with Europe and Asia and successfully renegotiating NAFTA.

“We did it by standing up for Canadian jobs, demonstrating how integrated—in the case of the United States—our economies already are, and we are ready to do it again if necessary,” Trudeau said. “I think Canadians and Americans have always successfully worked together to create opportunities that far go beyond each of our individual countries. We’ve done this before. We can do that again.”

Democratic Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris said on X on Sept. 26 that she was one of 10 senators who voted against USMCA as it was “not sufficient to protect our country and its workers.” She added that she would also reopen the USMCA agreement if elected president.