The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (Usmca): Legal and Business Implications

Book info: The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (Usmca): Legal and Business Implications (Hardcover, 424 pages) – Wolters Kluwer, 2020. Language: English.

On July 1, 2020, after much expectation and delay, the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)--a greatly revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994--came into effect. This timely book by the author of the preeminent guide to NAFTA and an active participant and private sector advocate in the USMCA negotiation and legislative process provides a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the new agreement, clearly describing what has changed from the earlier agreement and what is new.

After a concise but expertly calibrated summary of NAFTA, the author proceeds systematically through a practical analysis of each USMCA provision, emphasizing such crucial new elements as the following:

• new rules on intellectual property rights;
• stricter rules of origin within the automotive industry;
• major reforms in Mexican labor laws and their enforceability;
• opening of Canada's agricultural and dairy sector to more U.S. competition;
• entirely new chapter on digital trade;
• new dispute mechanisms;
• requirement of an increased minimum wage in auto plants; and
• a new chapter on environmental standards.

Changes in such important aspects of trade as textiles and apparel, ownership of hydrocarbons, cross-border trade in services, and anticorruption measures are also fully described.

The USMCA is a response to a United States initiative to renegotiate NAFTA. As a key regional trade agreement with vast global ramifications, familiarity with its content and rules is essential for all business, legal, policymaking, and academic parties concerned with international trade. This useful practical guide will be a welcome addition to private and corporate libraries, including corporate counsel, customs brokers, freight forwarders, logistics and import-export managers, government officials, and academics who need a thorough understanding of the new agreement.

Editorial Reviews About the Author Leslie Alan Glick received a B.S. degree from Cornell University, New York, and Juris Doctor Degree from Cornell Law School. After a judicial clerkship, he entered private law practice in Washington, D.C., where he has served as a partner/shareholder in several law firms. He also served as counsel to a Congressional committee and Special Assistant Attorney General of the State of Maryland, where he resides. He has been active in the American Bar Association as co-chair of two different committees: the Mexico Committee and The Customs Committee. He is the author of several books, including Understanding the North American Free Trade Agreement and Guide to U.S. Customs and Trade Laws, both of which were published in 3 editions by Kluwer Law International and are still available.