Competition policy in North America in the context of the USMCA: an overview and some skepticism with regard to any prospects for harmonization

Abstract

Competition policy within the three countries of the USMCA ? Canada, Mexico, and the United States ? has remained largely apart from the general economic integration that is the theme of the USMCA (and of NAFTA before it). Indeed, this separation is consistent with the absence of competition policy in the wider economic integration efforts of the WTO (and of GATT before it). At first glance, this separation might appear to be anomalous, and there should be a link between competition policy and trade in the context of international trade agreements. After all, reduced barriers to international trade generally increase competition in domestic markets, and the latter is what competition policy is supposed to encourage. However, this chapter argues that this pattern of non-harmonized competition policy is not accidental or somehow an oversight. Instead, this pattern reflects some fundamental differences between competition policy and the policies that guide the export/import trade flows that are at the core of such ?free trade? agreements. The body of this chapter expands on this argument.