Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
More than three decades after the U.S., Canada, and Mexico signed the initial North American Free Trade Agreement, the future of ever-deepening integration in the continent is up for grabs. In his first term in office, President Trump renegotiated NAFTA to create a new agreement, USMCA, with a provision for a review in 2026. The renewal of USMCA with minor tweaks might once have seemed a formality, but has become increasingly fraught as the White House levied a flurry of tariffs within USMCA and negotiated “deals” with third countries that could put the pact’s members at a disadvantage.
A promise of a continental bloc strengthened by nearshored supply chains has run into the political challenges in Washington of reshoring within America and of promising access to U.S. markets to boost foreign policy or inbound investment goals. Meanwhile, technological changes outside North America raise questions about how the region can best retain its economic primacy even as rising uncertainty about U.S. geopolitical goals pushes more countries towards hedging behavior. What is the likely future of the USMCA?? What implications does it have for U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada geoeconomic relations? How should stakeholders in the United States formulate their strategies?
To discuss these questions, we are hosting a panel discussion featuring Susan Helper, Frank Tracy Carlton professor of Economics at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and former Chief Economist of the U.S. Commerce Department; Arturo Sarukhan, president of Sarukhan + Associates, LLC, and former Ambassador of Mexico to the United States; and Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) of Canada. The discussion will be moderated by Karthik Sankaran, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank. To support our work:
Help fund our research: quincyinst.org/donations
Read our reporting: ResponsibleStatecraft.org
TikTok: / quincyinst
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
Facebook: / quincyinst
Instagram: / quincyinst
Website: quincyinst.org
More than three decades after the U.S., Canada, and Mexico signed the initial North American Free Trade Agreement, the future of ever-deepening integration in the continent is up for grabs. In his first term in office, President Trump renegotiated NAFTA to create a new agreement, USMCA, with a provision for a review in 2026. The renewal of USMCA with minor tweaks might once have seemed a formality, but has become increasingly fraught as the White House levied a flurry of tariffs within USMCA and negotiated “deals” with third countries that could put the pact’s members at a disadvantage.
A promise of a continental bloc strengthened by nearshored supply chains has run into the political challenges in Washington of reshoring within America and of promising access to U.S. markets to boost foreign policy or inbound investment goals. Meanwhile, technological changes outside North America raise questions about how the region can best retain its economic primacy even as rising uncertainty about U.S. geopolitical goals pushes more countries towards hedging behavior. What is the likely future of the USMCA?? What implications does it have for U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada geoeconomic relations? How should stakeholders in the United States formulate their strategies?
To discuss these questions, we are hosting a panel discussion featuring Susan Helper, Frank Tracy Carlton professor of Economics at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and former Chief Economist of the U.S. Commerce Department; Arturo Sarukhan, president of Sarukhan + Associates, LLC, and former Ambassador of Mexico to the United States; and Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) of Canada. The discussion will be moderated by Karthik Sankaran, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank. To support our work:
Help fund our research: quincyinst.org/donations
Read our reporting: ResponsibleStatecraft.org
TikTok: / quincyinst
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
Facebook: / quincyinst
Instagram: / quincyinst
Website: quincyinst.org
