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Nearly 150 people representing every U.S. Economic sector you can think of, from avocados to zinc, are scheduled to make presentations.

Their input will ostensibly be used as advice to the Trump administration about whether to renew CUSMA, amend it or withdraw.

“Ostensibly” is the key caveat.

I listened to a couple dozen presentations yesterday, and read through dozens more of the written submissions to the hearing, and I've yet to find anyone advocating for walking away from CUSMA — or letting it expire, as Trump has floated.

The testimony at the hearing is to be summarized in a report that the U.S. Trade Representative, Trump appointee Jamieson Greer, must provide to Congress by Jan. 2.

Canadian business jitters may not be unfounded. Politico reported this morning that Trump is considering withdrawing from the agreement next year, citing his trade representative Jamieson Greer.

"The president’s view is he only wants deals that are a good deal. The reason why we built a review period into USMCA was in case we needed to revise it, review it or exit it," Greer told Politico's White House bureau chief Dasha Burns in a podcast episode that airs Friday.

Greer also raised the idea of negotiating separately with Canada and Mexico and dividing the agreement into two parts in the podcast, adding that he spoke with Trump about that possibility just this week, according to Reuters.

The White House, Canadian and Mexican governments did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Hello, I'm a member of the live page team. Canadian business and policy groups are speaking at the CUSMA hearings in Washington, as fears grow U.S. President Donald Trump could pull the plug on the trade deal altogether.

Today, representatives from some of the Canadian industries hardest hit by tariffs will be testifying — including steel and aluminum manufacturer associations, as well as from the automotive and aviation industries.

My colleague Mike Crawley has been attending the hearings and reported yesterday that speaker after speaker called for an extension of the agreement (called USMCA in the U.S.), emphasizing how its free trade terms have boosted revenues through access to both Canadian and Mexican markets.

While the witnesses were testifying about the agreement on Wednesday, a reporter asked Trump for his position on renegotiating it.

"We'll either let it expire, or we'll maybe work out another deal with Mexico and Canada," Trump said at the White House.

The agreement is up for review by July 2026, and set to expire in 2036.

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