CUSMA is up for review in 2026, and here's what Trump might want | CBC News

Politics Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, is shown with U.S. President Donald Trump in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13. Trump cut off trade talks with Canada to reduce tariffs on certain sectors after the Ontario government ran an anti-tariff advertisement in the U.S. in October.(Evan Vucci/The Associated Press) CUSMA is up for review in 2026, and here's what Trump might want Canada and the U.S. will launch formal talks to review free-trade deal in mid-January A mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade kicks into high gear next year as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his campaign to realign global trade and poach key industries from America's closest neighbours. Negotiations on the trade pact, better known as CUSMA, were a stress test for Ottawa during the first Trump administration. The trade talks were tense at times, but ultimately the pact that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement was hailed a success in all three countries. Since the president's return to office, however, confidence in CUSMA's future has waned. During a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House, Trump called the deal "transitional" and said it may have served its purpose. Trade with Canada may not be front of mind for Trump, said Fen Osler Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa and co-chair of the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations. It's more like the "proverbial iceberg," he said. "It's what you don't see that matters. And that's the kind of hidden economic wiring of a very deep and highly interdependent relationship." The review of CUSMA began in the United States with public consultations in September. The Trump administration is expected to send a report to the U.S. Congress early in the new year outlining the changes it wants. The formal review begins in July, though Carney said last week that Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will head to Washington in January to kick off talks with his American counterparts. A three-way choice It boils down to a three-way choice for the three countries under CUSMA: renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from it or signal both non-renewal and non-withdrawal - which triggers an annual review that keeps negotiations going. Trump's public comments indicate that his administration is looking at longer-term negotiations - but he has also said the U.S. could let CUSMA "expire." Ryan Majerus, a Washington-based partner in the international trade team at law firm King & Spalding, said he expects the process won't be that different from the original CUSMA talks. "The U.S. has concerns about how it's operated in the past five years, as do our trading partners, and they'll just hash it out in negotiating rooms," said Majerus, who was an assistant general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the first Trump administration. WATCH | Trump says he could let free-trade deal with Canada expire: Trump has complained repeatedly about long-standing irritants in the United States' trade relationship with Canada: the...

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