US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the Trump administration is considering breaking up the three-way free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico in favour of separate bilateral deals. The comments come as the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement faces its 2026 review.Speaking at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, Greer said the administration is keeping all options open on the future of CUSMA. “Our economic relationship with Canada is very, very different than our economic relationship with Mexico,” Greer said. “The labour situation's different. .The import export profile is different. The rule of law is different. So it makes sense to talk about things separately with Canada and Mexico.”All three countries are required by July 1, 2026 to indicate whether they want to extend the agreement, renegotiate it or let it expire.Greer must submit a report to the U.S. Congress by Jan. 2 that signals the administration’s intentions..He gave no indication of what direction the White House is leaning, saying only that exiting, revising or renegotiating the deal are all possible.Greer said there is potential for splitting the agreement into separate deals with Canada and Mexico.“We're already talking to them separately,” he said. “I have not had a meeting this year where I sat with Canada and Mexico in a room, and we sat together and talked about USMCA.”.Greer’s comments follow remarks he made to Politico last week, where he said he recently discussed the idea of separate negotiations with President Donald Trump.The comments also came after public consultations in Washington in which several industries argued in favour of keeping the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement intact.Appearing before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, Greer said tightening rules of origin will be one of his key goals in the upcoming review..Several US industries accuse Canadian firms of exploiting the agreement by using cheap content from China in goods that are later sold in the United States under CUSMA’s preferential terms.Greer said rules of origin may be best handled in a three way deal with Canada and Mexico.He also said critical minerals and alignment of external trade policies could be part of a trilateral agreement, suggesting that a three country deal remains possible.
