WASHINGTON’S USMCA NARRATIVE MISALIGNS WITH REALITY: LOMELÍ

UNAM President Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas argued that Washington’s framing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) does not reflect reality, emphasizing that Mexico should seek a strategic alliance with Canada in the agreement’s renegotiation.

Speaking at the inaugural conference Strategic Integration of North America, he explained that while Canada initially sought to negotiate its trade agreement independently with the United States following Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House, there is now growing support for a unified approach between Mexico and Canada in addressing this renegotiation challenge.

Lomelí suggested that U.S. protectionist measures would be temporary, stating that “despite the political rhetoric,” the long-term trend points toward deeper North American economic integration.

“Neglecting integration would weaken the region’s competitiveness in an increasingly globalized world, leaving it at a disadvantage against other emerging economies, particularly China. It would be counterproductive to U.S. interests to ‘mutilate’ this relationship instead of investing in stronger North American integration,” he stated during the conference, which was part of the colloquium The Other Side: New Perspectives on U.S.-Mexico Relations.

At the event, organized by UNAM’s Center for Research on North America (CISAN) in collaboration with El Colegio Nacional and the national newspaper El Universal, Lomelí highlighted that the three economies together represent approximately 29% of global GDP. He noted that trade among the nations has expanded significantly, rising from $632 billion to over $1.6 trillion annually between 2003 and 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 5%.