U.S., Mexico Plan Talks Before USMCA Review Amid Tariff Issues

March 6, 2026

Summary

U.S. and Mexico to hold bilateral talks before USMCA review as tariffs loom.

Why this matters

The discussions reflect ongoing challenges and strategic economic decisions in North American trade relations and have implications for international trade policies.

The United States and Mexico announced plans to engage in bilateral discussions in advance of a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), amid ongoing tariff considerations from President Donald Trump.

Negotiators will first meet the week of March 16, with ongoing sessions planned thereafter, as per the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

Originally, the USMCA was scheduled for review in July. President Trump, who endorsed the agreement during his first term, has considered its cessation amid rising tensions with Canada. He has also issued variable tariffs affecting both allies and competitors, with specific exemptions for certain imports from Mexico and Canada.

In contrast, Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister for Canada-U.S. trade, expressed optimism about the agreement’s future. LeBlanc, set to meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, is expected to discuss both the trilateral USMCA review and bilateral issues.

For the U.S.-Mexico talks, Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard have directed negotiators to focus on necessary measures to ensure the benefits of the agreement remain within the parties. Key points include reducing dependence on external imports, reinforcing rules of origin, and enhancing North American supply chain security, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

LeBlanc noted the U.S. will be specific about desired USMCA adjustments. He further observed that Trump’s critical comments about the USMCA do not align with the trade team’s approach.

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Disney introduced the technology across Disneyland Resort in late April to verify tickets. Guests’ faces are scanned, converted into a numerical identifier, and matched with ticket data.

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A Riverside County visitor filed a $5 million lawsuit against Disneyland, alleging the resort failed to properly disclose its use of facial-recognition technology and collected biometric data without adequate consent.

Summer Christine Duffield filed the lawsuit on May 15 in U.S. District Court in New York after visiting Disneyland and Disney California Adventure on May 10. The suit alleged Disney violated privacy and consumer protection laws by collecting visitors’ biometric data.

“Disney does not adequately disclose the use of their biometric collection, so consumers — which almost always include children — have no idea that Disney is collecting this highly sensitive data,” the plaintiff said in the lawsuit. “Guests should be able to expressly opt in to this type of sensitive facial recognition technology with written consent — the onus of privacy rights should not be on the victim.”

Disney’s privacy policy said identifiers created for identification are deleted within 30 days unless they must be kept for legal or fraud-prevention purposes.

Guests who do not want to use the technology can enter through a separate entrance marked with a silhouette of a head and shoulders with a slash through it. During an April visit, however, only four of the dozens of entry lines at Disneyland and California Adventure did not use facial recognition.

A sign at security checkpoint entrances said, “Use of this technology is optional.” Disney said on its website, “This technology facilitates ease of reentry into our parks and helps prevent fraud.”
Latin America

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U.S. authorities charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five fighter pilots in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.

The indictment, announced Wednesday, accused Castro and the pilots of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals in the Feb. 24, 1996, attack, which prosecutors said occurred in international airspace and killed four Americans. Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time.

According to the indictment, pilots in Cuba’s Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force carried out training missions around February 1996 “to find, track, pursue and intercept” aircraft off Cuba’s coast in anticipation of Brothers to the Rescue flights. Prosecutors said the training took place at Castro’s command and under the direction of an uncharged co-conspirator.

The five pilots were identified as Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, and Raúl Simanca Cárdenas.

The indictment alleged that Pérez-Pérez and an uncharged pilot shot down the two planes. Days later, Pérez-Pérez told Cuban state television that he had intercepted the first aircraft and warned it on orders from controllers, but that it did not comply.

Prosecutors said Castro authorized deadly force after Brothers to the Rescue planes dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996, and that he and Fidel Castro, then Cuba’s president, made the final decision on orders to kill.

Pérez-Pérez was previously indicted in the United States in August 2003 on murder, aircraft destruction, and conspiracy charges.

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French police detained 16 people Wednesday in an investigation into suspected child abuse at nursery schools in central Paris, expanding a case that has raised scrutiny of the city’s after-school care system.

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Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Sunday that investigators were examining allegations involving non-teaching staff at 84 nursery schools and about 20 primary schools across all 20 districts of the capital.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the exercises in a video call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“The use of nuclear weapons is an extreme, exceptional measure for ensuring the national security of our states,” Putin said.

Lukashenko earlier inspected Russian short-range, nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a unit involved in the drills and said: “I dreamed about this machine a long time ago.”

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Russia’s Defense Ministry said the drills involved 64,000 troops, more than 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships, and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The drills also practiced coordination with Belarus, which hosts Russian nuclear weapons, including the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system. Along with ground- and submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles, the exercise included short- and medium-range weapons.

The Defense Ministry said Russian forces test-fired Yars and Sineva intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as sea-launched Zircon and air-launched Kinzhal missiles, and that all struck their designated targets. Belarusian troops test-fired a short-range Iskander missile inside Russia.

Putin has repeatedly highlighted Russia’s nuclear arsenal since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022. In 2024, the Kremlin adopted a revised nuclear doctrine saying a conventional attack on Russia backed by a nuclear power would be treated as a joint attack. The doctrine also extended Russia’s nuclear umbrella to Belarus.

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U.S. stocks reversed earlier losses and turned higher Thursday after reports said a U.S.-Iran agreement had been reached with Pakistani mediation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were “some good signs” that a deal to end the war in Iran could be near.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%.

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The filing pointed to a target valuation of $1.5 trillion, with some market participants projecting $1.75 trillion. Polymarket as pricing a 70% chance that the valuation would exceed $2 trillion.

Based on 2025 revenue of $18.5 billion, the implied valuation was about 94 times sales. The average space company traded at about four times sales, while Nvidia reached about 30 times sales at the peak of the artificial intelligence boom.

SpaceX reported a first-quarter loss of $1.94 billion and 2025 capital expenditures of $20.7 billion. To support the current valuation by 2031, the company would need to generate about $80 billion a year in net earnings.

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The settlement fully resolved the case brought by Breathitt County School District, according to a court filing. Co-defendants Alphabet’s YouTube, Snap, and TikTok had reached earlier settlements. The case had been set for a June 15 trial in federal court in Oakland, California.

“We’ve resolved this case amicably and remain focused on our longstanding work to build protections like Teen Accounts that help teens stay safe online, while giving parents simple controls to support their families,” a Meta spokesperson said.

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The community uses bees to pollinate a 2.5-acre farm that helps supply produce used throughout the development.

“Bees pollinate roughly 75% of the crops we eat and about 80% of flowering plants around the word,” Beewise Managing Director Steve Peck said. “So, without those bees, our food supply is in jeopardy.”

Peck said the system uses internal cameras, sensors, and robotic components to inspect hives and identify problems that would otherwise require manual oversight.

“The robotics know where it is in the frame or where it is in the hive at any point,” Peck said. “It can pick it up just like a beekeeper would, inspect it, and report that back to technicians around the world.”

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Dr. Peter Stafford contracted the disease while treating patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was evacuated to Charite University Hospital in Berlin.

“Before I was evacuated I was feeling really concerned I wasn’t going to make it, and now I’m cautiously optimistic,” Stafford said in a press release from Serge, the Christian missionary organization that employs him.

Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge’s area director for East and Central Africa, said Stafford was feeling better than he did Wednesday and was able to eat small amounts of food. Stafford first had fever, aches, and fatigue, but later developed vomiting and diarrhea. Myhre said his laboratory results were “trending slightly in the right direction.”

Stafford’s wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, and their four children arrived in Berlin late Wednesday and were isolating in a separate space at the hospital, according to Serge. The family was asymptomatic and could see him through a window, the organization said.

Another Serge physician, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, was quarantined at Bulovka Hospital in Prague and remained asymptomatic, Serge said.

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