Business Groups Scrutinize USMCA

July 2, 2020—The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) launches amid some criticism from business groups and government officials, reports Reuters.

According to the report, business groups within the deal applaud the deal, but said more work and flexibility was needed in the USMCA to overcome challenges including implementation of new labor and automotive rules, as the largest industry in the USMCA, automotive, will have difficulty complying with new, tighter content rules for vehicles and parts.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement now includes tighter rules for autos, new protections for intellectual property, prohibitions against currency manipulation, and new rules on digital commerce that did not exist in the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).