The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement's mandatory six-year review window opened in 2026, placing the North American auto industry on notice that formal renegotiation talks are imminent.

Reporting from Automotive News — titled "How the auto industry is preparing for a new USMCA ahead of formal talks" — captures the pre-negotiation maneuvering now underway among automakers and suppliers across Detroit, Tokyo, Seoul, Stuttgart and Wolfsburg.

What does the review clause actually trigger?

USMCA, signed on November 30, 2018 and in force since July 1, 2020, requires the three governments to formally review the agreement six years after entry into force. That window opened this year. Any signatory can call for consultations; the agreement specifies a structured negotiation timetable once those consultations begin.

For automakers, the clock matters. Investment decisions on powertrain, battery and stamping capacity run on multi-year cycles. Trade-policy teams want certainty — or at least visibility — before committing capital that will outlive the current administration in Washington.

Where do the rules of origin stand?

USMCA raised the regional value content threshold for passenger vehicles to 75 percent from NAFTA's 62.5 percent. It added new steel and aluminum content rules at 70 percent, and introduced labor value content provisions: 25 percent of qualifying work on a vehicle must be performed by workers earning at least $16 per hour.

Those LVC rules have pushed wage bills higher at Mexican assembly plants since 2020. They have also concentrated investment in higher-skill operations in Mexico's northern manufacturing belt, where automakers can meet the wage threshold more readily. The wage threshold is calculated on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis, giving OEMs with multiple nameplates flexibility in how they allocate qualifying labor across product lines.

What are suppliers watching most closely?

Tier 1 battery, harness and steel suppliers face the most direct exposure. Their footprint decisions since 2020 were built around the LVC threshold and the 75 percent RVC rule. Any adjustment — up or down — in a renegotiated USMCA would reset those calculations.

EV battery makers have the most at stake. USMCA was negotiated before most North American battery gigafactories broke ground. Treatment of battery components, critical minerals, and the Inflation Reduction Act's tax-credit linkage are all subject to renegotiation pressure.

Where does labor fit?

The UAW and Canadian auto unions pressed hard during the original USMCA negotiations for the labor value content provisions. Any softening of those rules would face organized labor opposition. Unions have signaled openness to higher thresholds — particularly for EV-specific content — if enforcement improves.

What to watch next

• The date each government formally triggers review consultations
• Any proposed changes to the 75 percent RVC or 25 percent LVC thresholds
• Treatment of EV batteries, cells and critical minerals under revised origin rules
• Section 232 auto tariff stability language in any successor agreement
• The status of the Inflation Reduction Act's North American assembly and battery sourcing credits, which sit alongside USMCA but interact with it