Ep. 50 – You Can Check Out Anytime, But Can You Ever Leave? USMCA Review and U.S.-EU Trade Talks

07/02/2026

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WITA

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Former Trade Negotiators Discuss This Week’s Tariff Trade Developments.

No one understands the dynamics with key U.S. trading partners better than the people who led these kinds of difficult trade negotiations for the United States. Panelists will update our viewers on the trade policy announcements, what remains undone; and what are expected next steps in these trade negotiations.

In this week’s episode, our trade insiders examine the ongoing USMCA review process, including proposed tariff actions on Canada and Mexico and the debate over how trade deficits should be interpreted in the context of integrated North American supply chains. The panel discusses the possibility of a U.S. withdrawal threat as a negotiating tool, the role of Chinese investment in Canada and Mexico, and what a near-term agreement with Mexico on agriculture might look like ahead of the midterms. The conversation then turns to Europe, tracing how a Section 301 investigation into German pharmaceutical pricing intersects with domestic policy debates in Germany, as well as broader questions about EU industrial policy, technology sovereignty, and the bloc’s evolving approach to China.

Featured Speakers:

Wendy Cutler, Senior Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative

Kellie Meiman Hock, Senior Counselor, McLarty Associates; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; Board Member, Inter-American Dialogue; former Director of Brazil and the Southern Cone, Office of the United States Trade Representative

Daniel Mullaney, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East

Moderator: Joe Damond, Non-resident Senior Associate at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in their Southeast Asia program; former Deputy Assistant USTR for Asia