Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Canada–U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc attend the kickoff of a bilateral trade mission in Mexico City in February.Henry Romero/Reuters
Canada and Mexico will kick off bilateral talks about the potential renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in May, as both countries await word on whether the U.S. will pursue trilateral negotiations.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, and Mexico’s secretary of the economy Marcelo Ebrard announced the talks on Monday.
At this point, there are no indications from the Trump administration that the three countries will hold trilateral talks on the free-trade pact.
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested he may scrap USMCA and reach separate deals with Canada and Mexico.
Mr. Ebrard said Monday that Mexico would prefer trilateral talks. “We have always said that we are in favour of the agreement having its trilateral characteristics, but as of today we don’t know when the U.S. and Canada will begin their talks.”
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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met separately last week in Washington with Mr. Ebrard and Mr. LeBlanc and the top Canadian negotiating team.
Mr. Greer announced that American and Mexican negotiators would begin bilateral discussions on USMCA next week. He did not name a time when Canada and U.S. negotiators would begin formal talks.
“Minister LeBlanc looks forward to engaging with his American and Mexican counterparts as part of the trilateral and bilateral review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA),” Mr. LeBlanc’s communications director Jean-Sébastien Comeau said in a statement Monday.
Mr. Comeau noted that Mr. LeBlanc is expected to speak to Mr. Greer in the “coming days to further their discussions” on when U.S. and Canadian negotiators can begin detailed trade talks.
Canada is also looking forward to the May discussions with Mexico to reaffirm the “remarkably integrated nature of our two countries’ economic relationship” and to “strengthen our economy ties,” Mr. Comeau said.
Mr. LeBlanc invited Mr. Ebrard to visit Canada, but no date has been set.
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The three countries are facing a July 1 congressional deadline, at which point Mr. Trump must decide whether to renew, scrap or modify USMCA.
Canada and Mexico say they want USMCA to remain in place because it allows most goods to cross the borders tariff-free. They have both acknowledged, though, that they may have to accept some baseline tariffs as a price to remain a favoured U.S. trading partner.
Prime Minister Mark Carney had a telephone conversation with Mr. Trump on Sunday in which they discussed trade and the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. No further details were released about the conversation.
Mr. Carney has vowed to diversify more trade away from the United States. He has pursued trade deals with numerous countries, including the fast-growing economy of India. Over U.S. objections, he has agreed to allow a limited number of Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for Beijing lifting punishing tariffs on Canadian canola and other farm products.
Canada is hoping to use USMCA discussions to persuade the U.S. to lift tariffs on Canadian autos, steel and aluminum.
Mr. Greer has complained that Canada has been difficult to negotiate with, citing provincial bans on wine and liquor and Ottawa’s refusal to substantially open its dairy market to the U.S.