“A modernized U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact took effect [last] Wednesday… The [USMCA] includes tighter North American content rules for autos, new protections for intellectual property, prohibitions against currency manipulation and new rules on digital commerce that did not exist when NAFTA launched in 1994.” (Reuters)

“A push by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) for a historic Senate vote on whether the U.S. should withdraw from the World Trade Organization appears to have been scuttled [last week] by a new parliamentarian ruling.” (Politico)

Many across the political spectrum oppose the US pulling out of the WTO:

“Much of the media attention has been on whether USMCA marks an improvement over NAFTA. But there’s another question to ask. The original NAFTA made its debut alongside the birth of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but USMCA is coinciding with an assault on the Geneva-based institution. Does this pose problems for USMCA? Yes…

“USMCA’s chapter on labels, licenses and certification, for example, is written to prevent forum shopping where the dispute is strictly over text ‘incorporated’ from the WTO. This is because labels, licenses and certification impact over 90 percent of U.S. exports, such that any inconsistencies, in terms of lost predictability, would be too costly. And that’s the point. USMCA needs the WTO. It uses WTO rules, and even the WTO’s interpretation of those rules, on key provisions. USMCA and the WTO are complements, not substitutes… USMCA will fall short if it can’t lean on the WTO to the same extent that NAFTA did.” (Marc Busch, The Hill)

“Ultimately, there’s no real point to pulling out of WTO, and doing so at this moment would be especially reckless. The pandemic is a crisis without borders, and since COVID-19 began its spread, free trade has proven absolutely essential to the distribution of supplies such as medical tools and personal protective equipment. As the world hunts for a vaccine, international cooperation will be critical, and the WTO will likely play a vital role in these efforts, potentially facilitating the commercial distribution of a vaccine… “The U.S. needs to stay in the club. In fact, if we play our cards right, we could finally show some strength as an international leader during all the chaos. Storming off from the WTO, claiming the others aren’t playing fairly certainly won't improve our own position, nor will it keep other nefarious power players in check. Instead, we should lead by example and fight for the liberal values on which we helped found the WTO: non-discrimination, openness, and competition.”
(Alice Calder, Washington Examiner)