U.S. and Mexico Hold Third Round of USMCA Revision Talks, Excluding Canada
Bilateral negotiations between Washington and Mexico City signal a structural shift in North American trade diplomacy, with Canada simultaneously facing new U.S. tariff measures.
U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators convened Tuesday, July 22, 2026, in Mexico City for a third round of bilateral discussions aimed at revising the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), according to reporting by the New York Post dated July 21, 2026. The three-day session marks the first formal bilateral talks on USMCA modifications since the Trump administration declined to extend the six-year-old regional trade pact under its existing terms.
Canada is not participating in the current round of talks. The exclusion follows a pattern established in prior sessions, according to the same New York Post report. The White House has not issued a public statement on whether Canada will be invited to subsequent rounds. The U.S. Trade Representative's office would be the relevant public record source for any formal negotiating mandate documents.
Concurrently, President Donald Trump imposed a new set of tariff measures on Canadian goods, according to the New York Post report. The specific tariff rates, product categories affected, and the legal authority invoked — whether Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — were not specified in the available source material. The Federal Register and U.S. Customs and Border Protection official notices would contain the full scope of any new tariff proclamation.
USMCA was enacted in 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and includes a mandatory review clause triggered after six years, which became operative in 2026. Under that clause, all three signatory nations must jointly confirm continuation or open renegotiation. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's public docket would reflect the formal status of any review notification submitted to Congress under the implementing legislation, 19 U.S.C. § 4611.
What remains unknown: the specific U.S. negotiating objectives tabled in the bilateral sessions, whether Mexico has formally agreed to any text changes, and the legal mechanism Canada would use to re-enter talks if invited. The USTR's Federal Register notices, any congressional consultations under the Trade Act's fast-track provisions, and Mexico's Secretaría de Economía public statements would provide additional detail on the state of negotiations.