Many stakeholders expressed their support for the USMCA, said Jamieson Greer, head of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

The USMCA contains a provision that provides for a joint review process through which the three parties confirm the continuity of the agreement. This is the first time such a provision has been included in a U.S. trade agreement.

Support for the USMCA

In his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on December 16 and 17, respectively, on the functioning of the USMCA prior to the joint review on July 1, 2026, Greer took stock of the situation.

“In their comments, many stakeholders expressed support for the USMCA, and many explicitly called for the Agreement to be extended. However, at the same time, virtually all stakeholders also called for some form of improvement to the Agreement,” he said. 

Greer reported that some commentators indicated that they would support an extension only if certain improvements were made. For example, one group of stakeholders stated that the USMCA should not be renewed without addressing concerns related to Canada‘s dairy policies. Another group of stakeholders expressed opposition to extending the USMCA without modifying the labor provisions of the agreement.

With regard to agricultural trade, Greer summarized that there were concerns related to market access for dairy products in Canada and Canadian exports of certain dairy products.

At the same time, there were divergent views on whether the review should be used to implement restrictions on U.S. imports of seasonal agricultural products from Mexico, and divergent views on whether the United States should reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef.

There was also a desire to maintain a tariff-free environment under the USMCA, and strong provisions that help ensure that sanitary and phytosanitary measures are science-based. 

Rules of origin

“As expected, 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 our USMCA partners benefit most from the Treaty’s preferential tariff treatment,” Greer added.

While the North American Specialty Steel Industry suggested strengthening rules of origin for derivative products containing specialty metals, the BlueGreen Alliance wrote that automotive rules of origin should be strengthened, including to incentivize the use of North American-sourced critical minerals. 

Other stakeholders offered different perspectives on modifying the USMCA rules of origin, such as the National Association of Manufacturers, which said the rules work well in most cases.