U.S., CANADA, AND MEXICO SIGN AGREEMENT TO REPLACE NAFTA - AGAIN

The “new” NAFTA, initially signed by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico over a year, had faced an uncertain future after Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives and insisted on changes to labor and environment enforcement before allowing the agreement to pass through Congress. Following negotiations among Democrats, the Trump administration, and Mexico, officials from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada signed a revised agreement last week. Despite some last minute objections by Mexico over labor provisions, the agreement is now set for a vote in the House of Representatives allegedly this week.

As previously reported here, the “new” NAFTA agreement did not involve substantial modifications to the original agreement’s immigration provisions, and as result, did not require changes to U.S. immigration regulations related to the TN visa classification. As far as I can tell, the new NAFTA agreement containing its recent revisions has, yet, to be formally published. But it seems that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is in the process of updating its website to reflect the text of the most recent agreement. At least according to the text of the agreement provided at this site, the immigration provisions appear to remain unchanged from the text of the original USMCA.

Stay tuned for further updates as the text of the new agreement is confirmed, and as the USMCA makes its way through Congress.