From NAFTA to USMCA

Trump and the national interests?

Abstract

The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a central theme in candidate Donald Trump’s election campaign, and in his government agenda. This article analyzes the negotiation process that led to the replacement of NAFTA by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), discussing the stance of the U.S. government in the renegotiation, as well as the main changes contained in the new agreement and the tensions generated for its ratification before the U.S. Congress. The article seeks to demonstrate that the USMCA is not a product of the Trump administration, but the result of a domestic agenda marked by multiple interests and actors.