Trump Signs USMCA
On January 29, Trump signed the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) into law. This new trade deal will replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which, according to President Trump, was “one of the worst trade deals” in history.
Instructors, click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.
Download the PowerPoint Lecture Spark for Trump Signs USMCA
Links
“Trump Celebrates Major Rewrite of North American Trade Rules”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/30/trump_celebrates_major_rewrite_of_north_american_trade_rules_142270.html
“What is the USMCA? Here’s What’s in the New NAFTA”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/business/economy/usmca-deal.html
“Trump shuns Democrats as he signs bipartisan USMCA”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/29/trump-signs-usmca-into-law-108803
“A New Trade Pact Offers Mexico an Opportunity – at a Cost”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/opinion/international-world/trump-signing-usmca-mexico.html
“Christian Whiton: Trump’s USMCA is not just biggest deal ever – it’s an international game changer”
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/trump-usmca-deal-christian-whiton
“Trump Claims Victory For Essentially A Rebranded NAFTA”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-usmca-rebrand-nafta_n_5e31f55dc5b6fb636bae1663
Assessment
- Writing: Briefly describe the elements in the new USMCA and how they are different from NAFTA. What were some of the main problems attributed to NAFTA? Will the USMCA fix these problems?
- Debate: The USMCA is not a significant departure from NAFTA and will only serve to rebrand and extend an already bad trade deal.
- Poll: Is the USMCA a victory for the Trump Administration?
- Short Answer: Is new trade deal likely to disproportionately benefit one country/industry over another?
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