Abstract: Cross-border trade has resulted in many trade agreements around the world. Producing over a trillion dollars of trade annually, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is one of the most successful of these agreements. NAFTA fundamentally reshaped the economic relations between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Soon after assuming the U.S. presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump called for a renegotiation of NAFTA, which resulted in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA seeks to address problems not considered under NAFTA. The changes in the original NAFTA involve three main areas for the U.S. and Mexico: rules of origin, intellectual property laws, and labor wages in the automotive industry in the U.S. and Mexico. This paper analyzes the significance of the changes for American and Mexican businesses as well as in logistics and offers potential strategies that can better equip companies in both territories to compete under the new rules.

Key words: Maquiladora; PITEX; IMMEX; NAFTA; USMCA

JEL code: M160