'If it ain't broke don't fix it': U.S. ambassador warns Canada against cutting Mexico out of trilateral trade deal

Cutting Mexico out of the current North American free trade deal 'may not be the best path to take,' says U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen.

Cutting Mexico out of the current North American free trade deal "may not be the best path to take," says U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen.

"I come from a school of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it,' when we have this really incredible, incredible agreement in CUSMA, by the way, an agreement that was negotiated by Donald Trump," Cohen said, in an interview on CTV's Question Period airing on Sunday.

Cohen's comments come after a few Canadian premiers voiced support for the idea of cutting Mexico out of the trilateral free trade agreement, or Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement, in favour of bilateral pacts between just Canada and the U.S., and Canada and Mexico.

"We've got to put Canada first," Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in an interview on a previous episode of CTV's Question Period. According to Smith, Alberta has a $188-billion trade relationship with the United States, compared to the $2.9-billion trade relationship with Mexico.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford initially floated the idea in the wake of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's re-election.

Trump in this last election campaign vowed to reopen the agreement when it comes up for review in 2026. The trilateral deal was first inked in 1994, and at the time it was called NAFTA. It was then renegotiated and re-titled as CUSMA, or the USMCA depending on what country you're in, during Trump's first term.

Ford, who is also the chair of Canada’s Premiers, then said there was a "clear consensus" among his provincial counterparts to push for separate trade deals with the two countries.