Yesterday (October 1st) we covered news that Canada decided it would join the new NAFTA deal that Mexico had already accepted. With the various changes comes a change in the name. It would no longer be NAFTA, it is now USMCA. This name change might not matter to you but Brietbart pointed out just how strong it’s meaning is.
The importance of the name change.  The new name of the agreement simply aggregates the three countries that are a party to it. That highlights the basic national sovereignty framework of the agreement. Instead of transnational North America being the operative entity, it is three independent nations. What’s more, the new name puts the U.S. first–as in “America first.â€
Also gone from the name: free trade. The agreement’s centerpiece is no longer an economic theory called free trade. Instead, it is an agreement over the circumstances in which trade between the three parties will face lower or no trade barriers.
This is something I hadn’t realized. The name of this doesn’t only showcase American strength but also a national identity for Mexico and Canada.
