So Long, Nafta; Hello, USMCA. What You Need to Know

As a candidate in 2016, President Donald Trump pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and to terminate it “if we don’t get the deal we want.” After 13 months of diplomatic negotiations, plus further political wrangling within Washington, a replacement takes effect on Wednesday with modest changes in some areas, significant additions in others and a new name, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

It enters the history books, having guided trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico for more than 26 years, starting on Jan. 1, 1994. It phased out tariffs on most goods, creating what was for a time the world’s largest free-trade zone and gradually tripling trade among the three countries. It integrated North American supply chains in auto manufacturing and other industries and removed barriers to foreign investment and cross-border trade in services.