The review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) scheduled for July 2026 is expected to include discussion of new rules of origin, both in the automotive sector and for non-automotive manufactured goods.
In consultations conducted in 2025 by the White House Trade Representative (USTR), the BlueGreen Alliance wrote that automotive rules of origin should be strengthened, including to encourage the use of critical minerals of North American origin.
New rules of origin
As expected, following those same consultations, the USTR highlighted that rules of origin were a priority for many industry players, especially the idea that the rules should change to ensure that the United States and its USMCA partners benefit primarily from the Agreement’s preferential tariff treatment.
For example, the Alliance for American Manufacturing expressed concern about foreign companies using Mexico as a platform to evade U.S. tariffs, circumvent trade compliance measures, and exploit loopholes in the Agreement’s rules of origin.
From the USTR’s perspective, collaboration between the United States and Mexico has demonstrated the effectiveness of focused bilateral work. But addressing some issues, such as rules of origin, critical minerals, or economic security alignment, may require a trilateral approach.
As another conclusion of the consultations, the USTR stated that strengthening rules of origin for non-automotive industrial goods will be addressed in the USMCA review on a trilateral basis to ensure that the benefits of trade in those products flow substantially to the Parties.
Supply chains
An analysis by the U.S. Congress notes that federal policies on free trade agreements, tariffs, financial assistance programs, and manufacturing and production incentives, among other policies, have influenced new entrants to the automotive industry market and supply chains.
The predecessor to the USMCA, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is an example of a federal policy that fostered integrated automotive industry supply chains between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The implementation of NAFTA correlated with increased investment in automobile manufacturing in all three countries, and the USMCA then modified the rules for duty-free trade in motor vehicles, including the requirements for rules of origin.
Another trade agreement, the United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), facilitated trade between South Korean automakers and the United States; these manufacturers also increased investments in US operations after the agreement was implemented.