International trade experts will gather at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Feb. 12 to explain the complexities of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and forecast its impact on both local and global trade.
The event, hosted by the Baker Institute’s Center for the United State and Mexico, is open to the public. Registration is $20.
Who: Panelists David Gantz, the Will Clayton Fellow in Trade and International Economics at the Center for the United States and Mexico, and Robert Givens, an international trade lawyer at Givens & Johnston Customs and International Trade Law.
What: A discussion titled “The USMCA and the Future of Trade in North America.”
When: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 6:30-8 p.m. A reception will be held at 6.
Where: Rice University, James A. Baker III Hall, Kelly International Conference Facility, 6100 Main St.
In August 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would be renegotiated. This arduous process has resulted in the USMCA, which has now been ratified in Washington and Mexico City and will be approved soon in Ottawa.
In many ways, event organizers say, the USMCA is an improvement over the 25-year-old NAFTA because it includes additional economic sectors, such as energy and e-commerce, as well as new environmental and labor protections. But the USMCA is more restrictive on other issues such as steel, aluminum and national content in manufacturing, and it also restricts trade between North America and other countries like China, organizers said.
