A crucial hearing in Washington into the future of Canada’s three-way trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico kicked off Wednesday with U.S. agriculture, business and policy groups urging the Trump administration not to scrap the agreement.

The hearing, held by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), is the centrepiece of the government’s public consultation about whether to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in 2026, renegotiate it, or withdraw.

Speaker after speaker called for an extension of the agreement, emphasizing how its free trade terms have allowed their sector to boost revenues through access to both the Canadian and Mexican markets.

Several warned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff-fuelled trade war puts that lucrative access at risk.

Dave Walton,

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