Washington
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump is once again pledging to save American manufacturing and bring back jobs by rewriting a trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
But this time, instead of replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, which he has often described as the “worst trade deal ever made,” he wants to renegotiate his own trade deal.
Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, in 2018. It went into effect in January 2020, replacing NAFTA.
In 2018, Trump said the USMCA would be “the most modern, up-to-date and balanced trade agreement in our country’s history, with the most advanced protections for workers ever developed.”
But now he believes that it can be improved.
“Upon accession, I will formally notify Mexico and Canada of my intention to invoke the six-year renegotiation provision of the USMCA that I put in place,” Trump said last week during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.
The USMCA contains a clause requiring a review by the three signatory countries at the six-year anniversary.
When asked by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview that aired Sunday about his plan to renegotiate the USMCA, Trump said it would not undermine the deal he made.
“I want to make it a much better deal. I now want to take advantage of the auto industry,” he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also said she would use the USMCA review process.
Harris, who is now the Democratic presidential nominee, was one of 10 US senators who voted against the USMCA at the time.
“I knew it was not enough to protect our country and its workers,” she said in a statement last week.
After the 2020 Senate vote, Harris said she was concerned that the USMCA’s environmental provisions did not go far enough to address climate change.
Much of the USMCA simply updated the 25-year-old NAFTA.
One of the biggest changes was a new incentive to build cars and trucks in North America. The USMCA requires 75% of a vehicle’s parts to be made in one of the three countries—up from the previous 62.5% rule—to remain tariff-free when moving across borders.
It also required more vehicle parts to be made by workers making at least $16 an hour.
The trade agreement created sweeping new benefits for the technology sector in a chapter on digital trade that was not part of the original NAFTA.
Strong labor regulations and environmental protection were also included.