Chapter 26: USMCA

May 19, 2021

Institutional context

Chapter 26 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) stipulates that a North America Competitiveness Committee should be established to promote greater economic integration between the countries and improve competitiveness in the exports from North America. Such a committee shall be established no later than the first year after the agreement enters into force.

American North Competitiveness Committee

The USMCA entered into force on July 1, 2020. Ten months after its ratification, the Competitiveness Committee has not yet been established. On May 19th, the U.S.-Mexico Foundation held a workshop where it brought together relevant actors of the binational digital ecosystem as a first step towards the establishment of a new permanent Council called “Chapter 26”, which will generate better opportunities for the North American region.

This Council seeks to lay the foundations as a complementary exercise to the creation of the Competitiveness Committee.