Canada, Mexico, U.S. to Hold First Joint Review of Trade Deal on July 1

Officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States will hold their first trilateral meeting to review the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on July 1. The session will take place virtually, Mexican official Marcelo Ebrard said. Ebrard stated that each country will present its position on the future of the agreement.

July 1 is the date specified in the CUSMA text by which the countries must signal whether they wish to extend the deal past its 2036 expiration. A second meeting is scheduled for later in July, Ebrard said. Officials from the three countries have been meeting only one-on-one in recent weeks.

President Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he is not a big fan of the agreement. "I liked it because it got us out of NAFTA," he said. "I would rather leave it unsigned. I'd rather have it terminated," he added, suggesting he would rather the agreement expire immediately rather than in 10 years.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that it is no secret the president has not been the biggest fan of CUSMA or other trade deals. Carney and Trump discussed the agreement at the G7 summit in France this past week.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the G7. LeBlanc described the meeting as positive and said Canada has made progress on resolving issues raised by Greer. "We also talked about issues that are important to Canadian workers and the Canadian economy.

So it's by no means a one-way conversation," LeBlanc said.