The United States has put “dozens” of demands on the table in its trade negotiations with Canada and Mexico, but President Donald Trump has not formally proposed abandoning it the The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney asserted in a year-end interview with the Canadian public broadcaster CBC, which will be broadcast in its entirety next Sunday. Carney explained that his conversations with Trump “have revolved around reviewing and adjusting the USMCA, not about anyone abandoning it completely,” nor about canceling it. He emphasized that this has been the general tone of recent exchanges with Washington. The interview preview aims to dispel regional uncertainty ahead of the key date in 2026, when the three countries must define the future of the treaty. Dialogues to Update the USMCA: The Canadian Prime Minister noted that the same stance has been present in the dialogues between Trump and the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. According to Carney, the three governments agree on the need to update the USMCA to adapt it to new economic realities, but not on breaking it. The three leaders met on December 5 in Washington, as part of activities related to the final draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held jointly in the three countries. According to Carney, the meeting also served to exchange views on the treaty review process and possible timelines, although no concrete agreements were reached. The USMCA stipulates that before July 1, 2026, Mexico, the United States, and Canada must communicate whether they wish to extend the agreement for another 16 years, review it, or withdraw from it. Uncertainty grew after US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer recently stated that “all options are on the table.”

Washington's Demands and Canada's Red Lines

In parallel, Carney revealed that Washington has presented a long list of demands in the bilateral talks. “It's dozens of issues.

The US, for example, has 54 outstanding issues with Mexico," the Prime Minister said during a press conference in Ottawa.

Among the most sensitive points is the Canadian regulated dairy management system, which limits tariff-free imports and has been one of Trump's main complaints. Carney was emphatic: Canada will not accept eliminating or weakening that scheme. The Canadian prime minister also acknowledged that quick sectoral agreements to reduce the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on products such as steel, aluminum, and energy are unlikely. In his view, all these disputes will ultimately be incorporated into the renegotiation of the USMCA in 2026. Although Trump has criticized the treaty on several occasions—even though it was negotiated during his first term—Carney insisted that, so far, there is no evidence that the United States has decided to abandon the agreement. The discussion, he said, remains about how to change it, not about leaving it behind.

Recognition of Mexico

Carney also noted that the conversations Trump has held with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have. revolved around the same idea of ??renewing and updating the USMCA, which includes the three North American countries.

He emphasized that the work continues and encompasses not only trade, but also border and national security. “Mexico has been an active partner in these conversations. To date, it has taken concrete and important steps to address our concerns,” including:

•Implementing legal and regulatory reforms to remedy long-standing concerns about intellectual property protection;

•Amending its foreign trade rules to facilitate the correction of administrative errors in customs declarations without penalty;

•Increasing the budget for its Single Window for Customs electronic program, including reducing technical disruptions. and resolving border congestion problems;

•Simplifying regulatory requirements for medical devices;

•Simplify testing requirements for telecommunications equipment;

•Increase funding for trade law enforcement activities, labor and environmental standards;

•Strengthen the prohibition on the importation of forced labor into Mexico;

•Finalize a legislative proposal that establishes a mechanism to review foreign investment for national security risks;

• Improve the enforcement of fishing laws in Mexico to prevent illegal fishing in the Upper Gulf of California;

• Modify Mexico's export control regime to align more closely with that of the United States;

•Introduces a legislative proposal that would increase tariffs on more than 1,400 products imported into Mexico from non-NAFTA countries, including China; and

•Take steps to implement a new monitoring program for aluminum imports.