First it was Mexico that agreed to a new trade accord with the United States. Less than one week later, Canada joined the agreement as well. With that, the stage is set for the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to end and the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) to take its place. Once the USMCA is submitted to Congress, a 60-day review period will begin before it can be signed by the president.

Canada’s agreement to the USMCA should come as no surprise, as the Office of U.S. Trade Representative reports that, in 2017, goods imported into the United States from Canada totaled $299.3 billion. With such a high reliance on the U.S. market, Canada was under tremendous pressure to “strike a deal.”