The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) participated in a webinar as part of the International Road Transport Union’s (IRU) North American Transportation Forum (NATF), to discuss the impact of nearshoring on the North American trucking sector, as well as priority items for the industry as the Canada-United States-Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement is set to be reviewed in 2026.
While looking at the Canadian perspective, CTA’s Director of Policy and Industry Awareness Programs, Lak Shoan, underscored the importance of trucking to trade in North America and the need to continuously improve border processes between Canada and the U.S. Canadian fleets looking more into the emerging market in Mexico, as well as items such as joint customs inspections, cargo theft, and streamlining U.S. visa processing, amongst other trade irritants, were also highlighted.
The webinar also featured Bob Costello, Senior Vice President International Trade Policy and Chief Economist of the American Trucking Associations, who looked at trucking trends in international trade, and how the North American trade market has continued to become more integrated.
Mexico’s former lead negotiation of CUSMA, Kenneth Smith Ramos, also spoke about the growth in trade and investment into the Mexican market, and the potential implications of upcoming elections in the U.S. on how trade negotiations may be approached, and what issues may be focused on moving forward.
More information on the webinar can be found at the IRU website.