Mexico announced Thursday that it has concluded public consultations on the free trade agreement with the United States and Canada (TMEC). The Ministry of Economy said it held public debates in October in the country’s 32 states with 30 manufacturing sectors to find out their concerns about the trade deal. The review of the USMCA between the three countries is scheduled for July 2026, so the consultations – which began in September – will serve the Latin American country to define its negotiating strategy.
The Ministry of Economy will develop a document that will be delivered in January to the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and the Senate to unify Mexico’s position towards partner countries. “These working groups allowed us to identify the issues that participants consider priorities in terms of foreign trade to revive the competitiveness of the Mexican economy within the framework of the USMCA,” the agency said in a statement.
This same Thursday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced Fox News that the public hearing to find out the concerns of the American productive sectors will be postponed to December 3, when it was initially scheduled for November 17. The USMCA consultation process unfolds differently in each country. Mexico has opted for public sessions, while the government of Canada receives only private comments from participants in the trilateral trade.
Mexico, in addition to holding the hearings, also distributed 2,500 questionnaires to participants from various sectors and left an inbox open to continue receiving feedback. The Mexican government involved several unions in the consultations, as well as companies involved in the manufacturing, energy, technology, tourism and agricultural sectors. “Mexico is advancing in an orderly and transparent manner towards the revision of the USMCA, ensuring that the voice of the productive sectors is taken into account and recognizing the economic and social particularities of each State and sector,” reads the note from the Ministry of Economy.
In recent weeks at economic forums across the United States, Greer has aired some complaints about Mexico’s compliance with the treaty. Among the sectors targeted by the US trade official are energy, agriculture, intellectual property and telecommunications. Additionally, Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick has floated the idea that the United States should focus on growing the auto industry, currently heavily burdened in Mexico and Canada. This sector, for example, was the target of Trump’s new tariffs on its partners.
Mexico, the United States and Canada will review the treaty, which transfers 1,500 billion dollars a year between the three economies, in 2026 and decide whether to extend its validity until 2032. United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened the partners with canceling the trilateral agreement and has even floated the idea of being able to stipulate separate agreements with each of the countries. Both Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have assured that the value of the USMCA is to maintain North America as a large trading bloc that serves as a counterweight to other regions of the world.
