On September 30, the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States announced a new trilateral pact that will replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. The new USMCA deal will still need congressional approval from all three countries, but the inclusion of Canada in the agreement is a victory in and of itself. "There is bipartisan agreement in Congress and also an agreement between the business community and labor that without Canada there was not going to be a whole lot there," said AS/COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth.

What difference does it make if NAFTA negotiations happen with just two countries present or all three? For Council of the Americas Vice President Eric Farnsworth, it can completely change the dynamics of the ongoing talks. “We’re not just three countries in a region. We are North America. The way these supply chains and production have gone together since NAFTA has passed means we are a fully integrated economy. So it’s difficult to disagragate these economies from each other,” he said in an appearance on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.”

Farnworth said the U.S. government might be trying to gain leverage in negotiations by separating the meetings with Mexico and Canada, but politics mainly with the former may take a turn after Mexico's July 1 presidential election. He pointed out that cooperation on security, counter-narcotics, and immigration programs are all, he said, “issues where there is a fluid exchange with Mexico. And that depends on trust and goodwill.”  

Speakers:

• Paola Avila, Chair, Border Trade Alliance, Vice President, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Karan Bhatia, Vice President, Government Affairs & Policy, General Electric
• James Blanchard, Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada; Partner, DLA Piper
• Laura Dawson, Director, Canada Institute, Wilson Center
• Drew Dilkens, Mayor of Windsor
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
• Kevin Faulconer, Mayor of San Diego
• Juan Manuel Gastélum, Mayor of Tijuana
• Don Iveson, Mayor of Edmonton
• Michael Kergin, Former Canadian Ambassador to the U.S.; Senior Advisor, Bennett Jones LLP
• Arturo Sarukhan, Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S.
• Earl Anthony Wayne, Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico; Public Policy Fellow, Mexico Institute, Wilson Center
• Christopher Wilson, Deputy Director, Mexico Institute, Wilson Center

Divided in three panels, the event hosted by the Wilson Center and Council of the Americas in Washington, DC addressed what withdrawal from the pact would mean for job growth, competitiveness, and North America's geopolitics. City mayors, former ambassadors and business leaders from the three NAFTA countries discussed the pending issues for the current talks and what's at stake for the region's economy should NAFTA negotiations fail.

• Follow NAFTA negotiation developments in our North America Hub.
• Read selected quotes from this event.