The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will not be renewed at this time, per statements from the Trump administration.  The agreement’s built-in six-year review process and potential ten-year path toward expiration will soon commence. 

While this development has caused concern for the three North American countries serving as signatories to the agreement, there is no immediate impact to Treaty National (TN) nonimmigrant status for Canadian or Mexican TN visa holders, nor will the winding down of the agreement affect the ability for Canadians and Mexican professions holding the visa category to maintain their status.
The TN visa category allows Canadians and Mexican nationals to work in the USA in specific professional categories, provided they possess the appropriate professional qualifications for the position offered.  A listing of the professional titles and educational background necessary to qualify for the TN visa category may be found here: Chapter 6 - Requirements for Specific Occupations | USCIS

USMCA Criteria

• If the parties do not ultimately agree to replace or extend the USMCA agreement, it will expire on July 1, 2036. 
• Further, no parties to the agreement have, to date, announced their intention to withdraw from it with a six-month advance notice as mandated.
• While the United States could announce a withdrawal from the Agreement during the six-month notice period, currently the TN provisions remain intact. 
• During any review process, the visa provisions of the Agreement could change and become more restrictive, less flexible, or even become more relaxed.

For the moment, there have been no changes announced by the administration concerning the professional occupations which encompass those qualifying for the TN visa for Canadian or Mexican nationals, although consular posts and U.S. ports of entry adjudicating TN visa requests have been known to recently add additional scrutiny to some of the TN professional occupations.

Closing Thoughts

Employers with employees holding TN visa status would be advised to review eligibility for other visa categories going forward for their TN visa designates, consider whether alternate employment-based immigration options might be available, and continue to monitor developments regarding the USMCA Agreement for purposes of future immigration planning for their workforce.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
If you have any questions or would like to discuss, please reach out to a member of the Tarter Krinsky & Drogin Business & Corporate Immigration Practice.