unchastely USMCA Schedule 23-A calls on Mexico to pass laws that improve the ability of unions to make collective agreements. [44] The specific standards that Mexico must meet are set out in Convention 98 of the International Labour Organization on freedom of association and collective bargaining. The government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lépez Obrador passed a law in late 2018 that respects these international standards. The agreement has failed to liberalize trade in some areas, particularly the ongoing dispute over coniferous timber. Issues such as trade in minerals, freshwater and conifer wood remain controversial. It is impossible to isolate the effects of NAFTA in the larger economy. For example, it is difficult to say with certainty what percentage of the current U.S. trade deficit, which reached a record $65,677 million at the end of 2005, is directly attributable to NAFTA. It is also difficult to say what percentage of the 3.3 million manufacturing jobs that were lost in the United States between 1998 and 2004 is the result of NAFTA and what percentage would have been created without this trade agreement. It cannot even be said with certainty that the intensification of trade between NAFTA countries is exclusively the result of the trade agreement. Those who support the agreement generally claim NAFTA loans for enhanced trade activity and reject the idea that the agreement has resulted in job losses or a growing trade deficit with Canada and Mexico ($8,039 million and $4,263 million respectively in December 2005). Critics of the agreement generally associate it with these deficits and job losses. On April 3, 2020, Canada informed the United States and Mexico that it had completed its national process of ratifying the agreement.
[104] On this occasion, Us Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. contract implementation authority, established the USMCA Center to coordinate CBP`s implementation of the contract in the United States. According to CBP, the agreement modernizes “certain NAFTA provisions that reflect the evolution of 21st century technology and supply chain” and “provides more efficient trade, greater implementation and more economic opportunities for North America.” The USMCA calls for “new approaches to rules of origin, access to agricultural markets, digital trade and financial services” and aims to protect workers` rights in key industries and strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights. While NAFTA provides only for after-sales situations, the general R187 rule for business travellers, under which this section of NAFTA is implemented, allows individuals to participate in sales and leasing contracts.