US-Mexico-Canada Trade Policy in a Second Trump Administration: Can the US Maintain Leadership in the World Economy?

In April of 2018 in this outlet, I looked at the prospects for NAFTA one year into the first Trump presidency. Trump had campaigned on the premise that NAFTA was the worst trade agreement ever negotiated and vowed to eliminate it. In arguing the merits of a renegotiated NAFTA, I concluded that the net impact of NAFTA had been positive but that the safety net of training and assistance for displaced workers was insufficient to quell populist nationalistic sentiments. In the end, the Trump administration renegotiated NAFTA, creating USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement) which is up for renegotiation in 2026.