The Trump administration plans to close U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico ahead of a mandatory 2026 review of U.S. trade agreements to boost U.S. auto jobs and counter Chinese companies moving into Mexico’s auto sector. Officials have announced that they intend to push forward with renegotiating the agreement. said the council.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump signed in 2020, required the three countries to conduct a “joint review” of the agreement on July 1, 2026, six years later. We intend to start negotiations sooner. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public.
In particular, Trump administration officials say they want to tighten the rules of the agreement governing the auto sector to prevent auto factories from leaving the United States. It also seeks to prevent Chinese companies that make cars and auto parts from exporting to the United States through factories in Mexico.
Mr. Trump also threatened to impose 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico, accusing them of allowing drugs and immigrants to cross the U.S. border. Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday night after taking office, he said he plans to move forward with the tariffs on February 1st.
Trump campaign members believe Mexico is violating the terms of another agreement restricting metal exports to the United States, one of the people said. The government intends to demonstrate its intention to take measures. That’s what was said in the conversation.
The Wall Street Journal earlier Trump is reportedly seeking early renegotiation. On his North American trade deal. 3 countries must meet The terms of the trade deal will be discussed six years after it takes effect, but trade experts expect Trump’s team to accelerate efforts on the issue.
Mexico and Canada initially insisted on waiting six years before reconsidering the terms of the deal, according to people familiar with the negotiations. This is because they believed that if they did so, they would be able to survive the second consecutive year of the Trump administration. Instead, the requirements for 2026 talks will be placed squarely on Mr. Trump.
Trump has long criticized the previous trade deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and his officials have negotiated a new deal to replace it. One of the main changes in the agreement was to increase thresholds for the contents of vehicles that must be produced in North America to qualify for zero tariffs. The deal also includes other provisions that require automakers to hire more North American metals and higher-wage workers.
But Mr. Trump and his advisers now believe those conditions are not restrictive enough to prevent automakers from moving factories outside the United States. The country is also wary of the rapid increase in imports of cheap, high-quality Chinese cars from Mexico, as well as China’s efforts to establish auto factories in Mexico.
“Mexico is becoming a second China,” Trump said in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club in October.
“If China comes in, they will take over everything and we won’t be able to manufacture cars anymore,” he added.
A person familiar with the plans cautioned that the plans could still change. It also remains to be seen whether Trump is threatening tariffs with Canada and Mexico as a negotiating tactic to extract certain concessions from their governments, or whether he will simply impose tariffs. The Trump administration’s press office did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump signed an executive order Monday night directing agencies to conduct a wide range of investigations into a variety of trade issues. Although he did not immediately impose new tariffs, as he had previously threatened, the order raises the prospect of a number of trade actions in the coming months.
One provision of the order directed trade authorities to assess the impact of the North American Trade Agreement on workers, farmers, and other businesses and “make recommendations regarding U.S. participation in the agreement.” . It also instructed the government to begin soliciting public comments in preparation for a review of the trade agreement in July 2026.
