The US Needs Its Neighbors When Cars Cost $51,000: Liam Denning

The seemingly shallow rebranding of NAFTA as USMCA revealed, in retrospect, a deeper problem — one that now risks the industry at the heart of the trade deal: automobile manufacturing.

Whereas the North American Free Trade Agreement advertised its continent-spanning scope, the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement that President Donald Trump signed in his first term delineated its fissile parts. It’s a subtle distinction, but it makes all the difference.

Trump said on Wednesday that he won’t renew the free-trade agreement between the three countries for another 16 years. Assuming he follows through, an annual review process then kicks in, though the deal remains in force for up ...