Trump wants to renegotiate his own trade agreement with Mexico and Canada

() – Former US President Donald Trump is vowing once again 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,” he wants to renegotiate his own trade deal.

Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Treaty (USMCA for its acronym in English or T-MEC in Spanish) in 2018. It came into force in January 2020 and replaced NAFTA.

In 2018, Trump said that the USMCA would be “the most modern, updated and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country, with the most advanced protections for workers ever developed.”

But now Trump believes it can be improved.

“Upon taking office, I will formally notify Mexico and Canada of my intention to invoke the six-year USMCA renegotiation provision that I put in place,” Trump said last week during a speech at the Economic Club of Detroit.

The T-MEC includes a clause that requires a review by the three signatory countries after six years.

When asked by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview broadcast Sunday about his plan to renegotiate the USMCA, Trump said he would not undermine the agreement he crafted.

“I want it to be a much better deal. “I want to take advantage, now, of the automobile industry,” he said.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris has also said that she would use the T-MEC review process.

Harris, now the Democratic presidential candidate, was one of 10 U.S. senators who voted against USMCA at the time.

“I knew it was not enough to protect our country and its workers,” he said in a statement last week.

Following the Senate vote in 2020, Harris said she was concerned about USMCA environmental provisions that did not go far enough to address climate change.

Much of the T-MEC just update NAFTA 25 years old.

One of the biggest changes was a new incentive to manufacture cars and trucks in North America. The USMCA requires that 75% of a vehicle’s parts be manufactured in one of the three countries – up from the previous rule of 62.5% – so that they are free of tariffs when crossing borders.

It also requires that more vehicle parts be made by workers earning at least $16.

The trade agreement introduced new advantages for the technology sector, in a chapter on digital trade that was not part of the original NAFTA.

Strict labor standards and environmental protections were also included.