U.S., Canada reach deal to update NAFTA, change its name

(Image credit: Victoria Razo/AFP/Getty Images)

published 1 October 2018

The United States and Canada, with only hours to spare, reached a deal that keeps Canada part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the U.S. and Mexico.

Negotiations lasted throughout the weekend, as the White House had imposed a deadline of midnight Sunday. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the accord, which will be renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), will result in "freer markets, fairer trade, and robust economic growth in our region," strengthening the middle class and creating "good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home."

The agreement gives the United States more access to the Canadian dairy market and safeguards Canada should the Trump administration impose tariffs on automobiles. Negotiators from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. started talking about revamping NAFTA more than a year ago, and in August, the U.S. and Mexico reached a bilateral deal. Trump administration officials told CBS News the countries are all expected to sign the new agreement on Nov. 30, and it will then be sent to Congress, with a vote expected in 2019.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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