The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said on September 16, 2026 that his government is "very close to a deal with Mexico, a big deal," on the eve of the fourth round of the USMCA review.
The statement came during a rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, where the American president questioned his country's trade deficits and raised the possibility of suspending exchanges with nations that run negative balances. In parallel, the fourth formal round of bilateral talks was scheduled for September 28 and 29 in Washington, after being postponed by a week, according to Infobae. On the table are rules of origin, steel and aluminum trade, agriculture, labor conditions and investment. For Mexico, the calendar for that round defines the window available to turn the political rapprochement into a negotiated text.
Trump argued that if the United States stopped trading with the countries with which it runs deficits, it would gain at least 1.5 trillion dollars, and he put the negative balance with European nations at 200 billion dollars, according to the Aristegui Noticias report. The American president also suggested that his country does not need those nations' products. Talks with Mexico have been advancing since the virtual meeting on September 9 between President Claudia Sheinbaum and the US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, which the Mexican government described as useful for the trade negotiations. Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard declined to confirm that an understanding will be reached before the US midterm elections on November 3, and said the conditions are still being negotiated, according to Agencia Reforma.
The fourth round, on September 28 and 29 in Washington, will be the next checkpoint for the two delegations. The political tone was set on September 16; the negotiated text is what still has no date.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.