As uncertainty remains over North America’s trade relationship, one auto player is saying the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is “very important” to keeping the industry well integrated.
Speaking to Global News at the Calgary Stampede on Sunday, Jack Uppal, president and managing director of General Motors Canada said Cusmei protects the North American industry against other global players and “makes it stronger.”
Last week US President Donald Trump said his country would not renew the agreement in its entirety until 2042 (the end date of the pact’s potential 16-year extension) and would instead seek an annual review. Unless an extension is agreed, the agreement will expire in 2036.
Last month Trump suggested that the US is “better off without” CUSMA and that he would even prefer to see it “ended”. When asked by Global News, US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra would not to say whether the administration is considering scuttling the dealwhich can be done by either party with six months official notice.
“All options are on the table,” Hoekstra said. “(Termination) is clearly permitted within the agreement.”
CUSMA has largely shielded Canada and Mexico from the effects of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Uppal said pricing is something GM has been monitoring closely, but so far the company has been able to defend its market price points.
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“What we really need to focus on is making sure we keep our customer on target and manage the affordability part,” he said.
GM finished the first half of 2026 as Canada’s best-selling automaker, with 15.4 percent of the market and 148,640 vehicles delivered. This includes more than 30 percent in electric vehicle (EV) sales growth year over year. Even in Alberta, which has some of the lowest EV consumption, GM EV sales were up about 30 percent.
“We are in an environment that is quite uncertain from a geopolitical perspective; we have tariff noise, but at the heart of it is affordability,” Uppal said. “So that’s where I would really respond to those challenges. We need to double down and really focus on making sure we’re delivering value across our product portfolio to our customers to mitigate the noise that nobody can really change.”
Despite moving significant production to the U.S., Uppal said many of GM’s values still resonate with Canadian consumers.
“We’re seeing that the consumer really wants more choice, more technology, more connectivity,” he said. “The choice is absolutely critical.”
Uppal said he believes the uncertainty surrounding the trade deal will “work itself out” as talks continue between the three countries. But Canadian government officials are less certain.
Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told The Canadian Press he asked US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer how he intended to structure the discussions as part of the annual review. He said the request was made together with Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.
“There was no response at the meeting … It was agreed that we would continue the conversation over the next few weeks,” LeBlanc said.
The annual renewable review process, set in motion by the Trump administration, could take up to 10 years. At the end of that period, the agreement would expire unless a way forward is found to extend it beyond its 2036 expiration date.
It has not yet been determined exactly how these annual reviews will be conducted.
– wfiles from Mackenzie Grey, Global News and The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
