2. Ratification and Implementation of the United–States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA)

This chapter covers the 19 months between the signing of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) on November 30, 2018, and its entry into force on July 1, 2020. First, it explains the amendment, ratification and implementation procedures under the USMCA, as compared to those under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The attention then turns to the ratification and implementation of the accord in the three domestic legislatures. Next, it discusses the USMCA’s Protocol of Amendment signed in December 2019, as well as issues related to the American aluminum and steel tariffs. Finally, it concludes that Trump’s impeachment proceedings muddied the water but, in the end, the legislative process worked and, as of July 1, 2020, we entered a new era in North American economic relations.