Jamieson Greer

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that he doesn’t expect negotiations on the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement on trade to be resolved by July 1. …July is the required deadline for the trilateral trade pact, known as CUSMA. The CUSMA review sets up a three-way choice for each country. They can renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from it or signal both non-renewal and non-withdrawal — which triggers an annual review that could keep negotiations going for up to a decade. …Canada is still being slammed by Trump’s separate tariffs on industries like steel, aluminum, autos, lumber and cabinets. Greer previously has floated the idea of abandoning the trade pact in favour of two separate bilateral agreements. …Greer said the Trump administration’s baseline is that “things have to be changed.” …Greer, however, said there are “load-bearing pillars” in the North American trade deal that work well.

• Related by Mark Rendell in the Globe & Mail: US expects USMCA to remain in place, with ‘separate protocols’ for Canada and Mexico