This report is a collaboration between the Inter-American Dialogue’s Mexico Program and Grupo Estrategia Politica (GEP), presenting key insights on North America’s energy integration. It builds on the Program’s convening of five expert teams across economics, public policy, law, and engineering to assess the future of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) energy framework ahead of its 2026 review. It presents actionable policy recommendations to strengthen the agreement’s energy-related commitments and advance a more secure, integrated, and competitive North American energy market. It was developed in collaboration with leaders and experts from the private sector, academia, think tanks, and civil society across the three USMCA partner nations.
As North America approaches the 2026 review of the USMCA, the region faces both opportunity and urgency. Unlike its predecessor NAFTA, the USMCA addresses energy through commitments spread across chapters on investment, state-owned enterprises, trade in services, and non-discriminatory treatment—establishing a framework intended to support cross-border flows, regulatory transparency, and investor protection. Yet as Mexico consolidates a state-led energy model through its 2025 reforms, as nearshoring places unprecedented demand on grids and pipelines, and as critical minerals become instruments of geopolitical competition, the agreement’s energy disciplines must adapt to ensure that security, legal certainty, and shared competitiveness continue to support investment, integration, and regional resilience.
This report outlines practical pathways for trilateral cooperation to help ensure that the energy transformation underway strengthens a more resilient and integrated North America.
