President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the White House to sign a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington. (Photo: AP)

Washington (People’s Daily) -- US President Donald Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) into law on Wednesday. This is a major rewrite of the rules of US trade with Canada and Mexico.

“Today we are ending the NAFTA nightmare,” the president opened. He said the USMCA is the largest, fairest, most balanced and modern trade agreement ever achieved.

Canada and Mexico are by far the largest US export markets. Trade between the US, Canada and Mexico reached $1.4 trillion in 2018, amounting to $3.8 billion daily.

US Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said, “The Chamber welcomes the news that the administration and House Democrats have reached agreement on a path forward for USMCA. But it's disappointing that certain intellectual property provisions were removed from the agreement.”

Trump made renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement a priority during his 2016 campaign.

On January 16 this year, the United States Senate passed USMCA by a margin of 89-10, sending the bill to the President’s desk.  The Agreement had previously passed the House by a margin of 385-41.