WASHINGTON — The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today released a new policy memo authored by Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at PPI, arguing that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is functioning effectively and does not require major revisions ahead of its scheduled six‑year review in July 2026. Instead, Congress should confine the review to consensus issues on which the three governments can easily agree, and focus urgently on three larger crises created by the Trump administration’s tariff and trade‑policy actions.
The memo, titled “USMCA is Not Broken, Doesn’t Need Major Changes,” outlines how USMCA has helped sustain robust trade flows with Canada and Mexico, and the primary threats to U.S. trade and national‑security interests stem from the unilateral tariff and “emergency” decree actions taken under this administration.
“USMCA remains a sound foundation for North American trade and integration,” said Gresser. “There are serious problems in North American relations and trade, but these are the result of the Trump administration’s tariff decrees and threats against Mexico and Canada. Before trying to perfect what basically works, Congress must first fix what’s broken.”
“Rolling back President Trump’s illegal and costly tariffs that he recklessly imposed on our friends and closest trade partners should be Congress’s top trade priority, not picking apart the USMCA,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “This agreement is working as intended, delivering meaningful results and lowering costs for the American people. Our trade relationships with Canada and Mexico are already under attack by an endless onslaught of tariffs and threats emanating from the White House that are driving up prices and reducing growth. We need to keep the USMCA stable and in force in order to protect ordinary Americans from the economic chaos that the President seems determined to inflict on the nation.”
Revising and updating the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020, the USMCA added new features, including digital trade protections, strengthened labor and environmental provisions, and stricter automotive‑manufacturing rules of origin. Under USMCA, U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico remains substantial: in 2024, $1.6 trillion of the $5.3 trillion in U.S. goods traded globally was with Canada and Mexico. Altogether, the memo concludes that it is delivering value and requires no major overhaul.
Conversely, the memo identifies three urgent policy failures that demand action before any USMCA renegotiation:
Escalating tariffs that raise costs for American families and reduce manufacturing competitiveness.
Strained relations with Canada and Mexico, weakening North American economic and security integration.
A constitutional risk from the Trump administration’s use of emergency and national‑security tariff declarations to bypass Congress’s Article I trade authority.
Because the USMCA’s six‑year review clause is voluntary (it “requires no action at all” next year), Congress should signal that the review should be confined to technical and consensus matters, and instead require the Trump administration to first rectify the deeper crises.
Specifically, the memo recommends the passage of legislation such as H.R. 2888 to revoke emergency tariff decrees and restore congressional oversight, a diplomatic reset to rebuild trust with Canada and Mexico, and reform of trade‑policy governance with renewed congressional direction of negotiating objectives.
With the USMCA review window opening next July, the memo urges policymakers to:
Resist launching broad renegotiations of USMCA for appearance’s sake.
Prioritize legislative and diplomatic reform to repair tariff‑driven damage and restore the constitutional trade framework.
Only after those steps, consider whether targeted, high‑consensus enhancements to USMCA deserve attention.
Read and download the memo here.
Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us @PPI.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
