The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is being replaced by CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement). After much discussion between the neighbouring nations and many last-minute amendments, CUSMA is nearly on its way to being fully ratified. With Mexico and the US signing off on the agreement already, Canada has yet to decide whether or not to ratify. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping for little resistance from the Canadian Parliament, however with a minority government, the Liberals are going to need the compliance of opposing party members, some of which have criticized aspects of the new deal.

One of the most appealing facets of the NAFTA replacement, as no drastic changes are being made to the original deal, is the certainty that it brings to North American trade. NAFTA was originally established in 1994 and hasn’t had any modern updates since then. As the US is our primary trade partner by a large margin, it brings a sense of relief to freight transporters. In fact, the CUSMA is seen to be beneficial by many experts, and has been endorsed by the president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, Stephen Laskowski, and American Trucking Association chief economist, Bob Costello, who stated “in the long-run it will not only add to freight volume in North America, it will help keep freight here.”

(source:cantruck.ca) (source:freightwaves.com)