President Donald Trump has privately asked aides why he shouldn’t withdraw from the USMCA trade pact he negotiated, as the agreement faces a review this summer.
Trump, 79, signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during his first term, hailing it as a signature economic achievement that replaced the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Now, according to Bloomberg, Trump has been asking aides why he shouldn’t exit the deal. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter and reported that the president hasn’t made a final decision and has stopped short of signaling he will withdraw.
It comes as USMCA is scheduled for a mandatory review on July 1. If the U.S., Mexico, and Canada agree to renew it, it would remain in effect for another 16 years. If they do not, the agreement would enter a period of annual reviews for up to a decade, until it expires in 2036.
An official in the office of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s told Bloomberg that under the current terms, the deal doesn’t best serve the interests of the United States. The Trump administration is exploring how to address issues identified, they said.
Greer, meanwhile, hasn’t confirmed whether Trump will renew the deal as it stands in July. He told Fox Business that talks are ongoing between the countries and within the Trump administration.
The Daily Beast has contacted Greer’s office for comment.
A White House official told the Daily Beast that “the ultimate decisionmaker is President Trump himself, who is always seeking a better deal for the American people.”
“Any discussion about potential presidential action unless announced by the President himself is baseless speculation,” the official said.
A committee hearing on the future of USMCA is scheduled for Thursday. In a letter published Tuesday, Neil Herrington, Senior Vice President for the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, described the pact as “a cornerstone of North American economic strength.”
Herrington wrote that more than 13 million American jobs depend on trade with Canada and Mexico.
“By maintaining its trilateral structure, the agreement ensures that the United States, Canada, and Mexico can collectively leverage their shared strengths to remain competitive in the global economy,” Herrington wrote. “The importance of preserving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) cannot be overstated.”
Herrington added that the pact “fosters innovation, strengthens supply chains, and promotes investment in key sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, energy, and digital trade,” calling it “an unparalleled opportunity to deepen economic ties with its closest trading partners.”
Trump’s chaotic approach to trade policy has earned him the acronym “TACO,” short for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” a term first coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong. The president, in his second term, announced steep and sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, only to delay or revise them.
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