NAFTA Negotiators Strike A New Deal

The U.S., Canada and Mexico officially have a new trade deal binding their economies: On Sunday, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was reached. The three countries are expected to sign the deal by the end of November. Congress, however, must ratify the deal — such a vote is not expected (or possible) until 2019. If approved, the USMCA would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement as the region’s economic standard. The deal comes after 16 and a half months of negotiations among the parties. Retail trade groups like the National Retail Federation are applauding the move, “which is critical to protecting North American supply chains that support millions of American jobs,” President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a press release emailed to Retail Dive on Monday. Read more at Retail Dive.