US leaves USMCA renewal on hold, remains open to Mexico, Canada talks

The United States did not agree to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form after a virtual meeting of the three parties on Wednesday, the deadline for the North American trade partners to determine whether the agreement would be extended for another 16 years.

The United States will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the agreement's shortcomings and its trade deficits with these countries, said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a statement released after the meeting.

The agreement remains in force pending resolution of these issues or until the agreement's termination, Greer said, adding the United States will meet with Mexico the week of July 20 for a third round of bilateral negotiations related to the USMCA joint review.

The USMCA was negotiated and came into effect in July 2020, during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term, to replace the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump frequently criticized as a raw deal for the United States.

But Trump's tariff policy has changed the nature of the trading relationship among the three countries ahead of Wednesday's deadline for the USMCA, local media reported, quoting a senior administration official.

Mexico's lead trade negotiator Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he believes the United States has still not given up entirely on a North American trade agreement.

Pola Grijalva, president of the China Chamber of Commerce and Technology Mexico said in an interview with the China Global Television Network that Mexico's overriding objective now is preserving stable access to the American market.

"Mexico has many elements with which it can negotiate an advantageous trade agreement, where there are not only equitable conditions, but also more certainty," said Grijalva.

The United States and Mexico have already begun a series of bilateral negotiations scheduled to continue past the deadline. Meanwhile, U.S.-Canadian talks have not started.

More than 17.77 million travelers passed through Hengqin Port in southern China's Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, which borders Macao, in the first six months of this year, a 27.8 percent increase from the same period last year.

During the same period, the port also recorded 2.21 million vehicle crossings, up 40.6 percent year on year.

Macao-registered single-plate vehicles were a major driver of the increase, accounting for 1.46 million of the total crossings, or 66 percent.

Located at the southern tip of Zhuhai and separated from the Macao Special Administrative Region by a narrow stretch of water, Hengqin has become a core center for personnel exchanges, economic and trade cooperation, and livelihood integration between Guangdong and Macao, as well as a vital gateway for the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone.