Trade negotiators from the U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to a renegotiated text of their trade agreement, which they are now calling the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), rather than NAFTA. To take effect, the agreement will need to be approved by legislatures in all countries. The Washington Post quotes Dan Ujczo, a trade lawyer with Dickinson Wright saying that negotiating the text “was the least difficult part. The heavy lift is going to be getting a trade deal through the next Congress in 2019 as well as ratification by Mexico’s new Congress and in Canada during a federal election year.”
The Intellectual Property chapter lengthens copyright terms, and it does not include a version of the copyright balance language found in Art. 16.88 of the TPP. It requires 10 years of marketing exclusivity for biologic drugs and patents on second uses.
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