In particular, the chapter offers the most robust trade secret protection in any previous U.S. trade agreement. It includes all of the following safeguards against the usurpation of trade secrets, including by state-owned enterprises: civil procedures and remedies, criminal proceedings and sanctions, prohibitions on preventing the granting of trade secret licences, legal proceedings to prevent the disclosure of trade secrets during litigation, and sanctions for government officials for unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets. On March 13, 2020, the House of Commons passed Bill C-4 transposing the USMCA before exposing itself for 6 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to “exceptional circumstances,” third and final reading of the bill was considered passed without a recorded vote, as part of an omnibus deferral motion passed unanimously by all members present. [102] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present because he was in self-isolation at home after his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19 infection. On the same day, the Senate passed the first, second and third readings of the act without recorded votes,[103] and Governor General Julie Payette signed it shortly thereafter, thus concluding Canada`s ratification of the law. [99] [100] [4] “We have always met all the commitments we have made under our [free trade agreements], including to the United States, and that will not change,” Canadian Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman told POLITICO. NAFTA has required automakers to produce 62.5 percent of a vehicle`s content in North America in order to qualify for zero duties.

The new agreement increases this threshold to 75% over time. This should force automakers to buy fewer parts in Germany, Japan, South Korea or China for an “Assembled in Mexico” car. The pact also requires that 70 percent of a vehicle`s steel and aluminum come from North America, with the steel being both melted and cast on the continent. For the first time in the United States, this agreement prohibits local data storage requirements in cases where a financial supervisory authority has access to the data it needs to fulfill its regulatory and supervisory mandate. Trump has touted the USMCA as “the best and most important trade deal ever reached by the United States,” but the deal is not expected to significantly increase trade in the region.