Mexico sees USMCA trade review starting in a few months, Canada more cautious

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico expects a planned review of the trilateral trade pact with the U.S. and Canada to formally start at the beginning of the fourth quarter this year, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was more cautious, saying he wanted to make progress on bilateral issues with the United States before talks take place on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.

The USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020 and was negotiated during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, requires the three countries to hold a joint review after six years.

“The formal start is expected at the end of September, the first week of October, for evaluation,” Ebrard told journalists on the sidelines of a banking event.

Ebrard previously said he expected the review to start in the second half of the year, ahead of schedule.

Despite the free trade deal, Trump has imposed tariffs on some imports from Canada and Mexico. Canadian officials have been holding talks with U.S. counterparts to have the tariffs lifted and persuade Washington that Ottawa is cracking down on fentanyl smuggling, a matter Trump raises repeatedly.

“We want to make direct progress on those issues before we have the broader review of USMCA,” Carney told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Trump has publicly pushed for the agreement to be renegotiated ahead of time and has called for the U.S. to receive better trade terms with all of its commercial partners.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Boyle and David Ljunggren;Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Rod Nickel)