What's ahead for the U.S.MCA and what's behind the drop in unemployment?

From Marketplace in Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams.

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement was the deal that replaced NAFTA six years ago.

The three countries had until yesterday to decide whether to extend it another 16 years.

Canada and Mexico were on board, but the U.S. decided it didn't want to do that.

Marketplace's Kaylee Wells explains what's going to happen next.

The agreement didn't expire yesterday.

It just starts a countdown clock to fix whatever problems the countries want to fix before it does expire in 10 years.

Duncan Wood is with the nonpartisan think tank, the Wilson Center.

We are entering into a period of what we would call managed uncertainty.

When the U.S. signed this deal, President Trump promised more domestic manufacturing jobs,

better wages in Mexico, and the U.S. would shrink its trade deficit.

Not only have those things not happened, but in fact the opposite.

Lori Wallach, who directs the Rethink Trade Program at the American Economic Liberties Project,

says the trade deficit got worse.

Mexican manufacturing wages are still lower than in China, and lots of jobs are still getting lost to other

countries. I think there would be bipartisan support for a good North American deal that actually

does the thing, which President Trump promised. Still, the auto industry in particular has relied on the

trade deal for easier cross-border manufacturing.

The U.S. has the leverage to get more concessions from the other two countries,

says Simon Lester, with the Baker Institute at Rice University.

They've got specific demands for U.S. dairy products into Canada,

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