NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) has been replaced by the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). According to Canada and the United States, one major reason for the new deal is to help the middle class in the three countries.
A statement from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland states:
USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region. It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.
The middle classes of the three countries do not include tens of millions of people who live below the poverty line. The richest 1% of people in the three countries are also apparently not included.
The deal is important because there was a very good chance a trade war would break out, particularly between the United States and Canada after the United States and Mexico has cut a deal. The tariffs could hit everything from milk to the paper used to print newspapers. Many economists believe that war would slow the economies of both nations. Canada is the largest U.S. trade partner after the European Union and China.
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