- Greer, Ebrard discuss stronger rules of origin for trade pact
- US, Mexico, Canada face July 1 review to decide future of USMCA
- Canada’s role in talks unclear as US-Canada relations sour
World
US, Mexico agree to begin talks on USMCA reforms, timing unclear
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard agreed on Wednesday to begin formal discussions on possible reforms to the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Greer’s office said.
Possible reforms for the USMCA Joint Review include stronger rules of origin for industrial goods, more collaboration on critical minerals, increasing efforts to defend workers and producers, and U.S.-Mexican efforts to combat “the relentless dumping of manufactured goods in our region,” the USTR’s office said in a statement.
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USTR gave no details on timing for the talks and its statement did not say whether Canada would be involved. A USTR spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
Under the trilateral trade deal that took effect in 2020, the U.S., Mexico and Canada must launch a joint review of the trade pact by July 1, its sixth anniversary, to confirm their intention to renew it for a 16-year period or make modifications, in what USTR has described as a “sunset clause.”
Greer told lawmakers in December the USMCA’s “shortcomings are such that a rubberstamp of the agreement is not in the national interest” of the U.S. He has said the pact is not equipped to deal with surges of exports and investment from non-market economies such as China into the region.
Greer told lawmakers in December the USMCA’s “shortcomings are such that a rubberstamp of the agreement is not in the national interest” of the U.S. He has said the pact is not equipped to deal with surges of exports and investment from non-market economies such as China into the region.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been more blunt, saying this month that the trilateral trade pact was “irrelevant” for the U.S. despite a highly integrated North American economy.
After Wednesday’s meeting, Ebrard called the discussion positive in a social media video, and said the two sides talked about next steps for the USMCA and covered new U.S. tariffs, including those affecting Mexico’s auto exports to the U.S.
“This year it has to be reviewed, as you know,” Ebrard said of USMCA. “We have already moved forward on many issues so that the review goes as quickly and as well as possible.”
USMCA has shielded Mexico from the bulk of President Trump’s tariffs, as goods that comply with its rules of origin can enter the U.S. duty-free.
Mexico’s Economy Ministry on Wednesday reported that the country’s exports reached a record high of nearly $665 billion in 2025, growing 7.6% from the previous year, citing data from the national statistics institute. The United States accounted for 83% of the exports, followed by Canada at 3%, China at 2%, Germany at 1% and South Korea at 1%, according to the report.
THREATS TO CANADA
U.S. trade relations with Canada have worsened over the past week with President Trump last weekend threatening to slap 100% duties on Canadian goods if Ottawa proceeds with a limited trade deal with China that is expected to allow imports of up to 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles.
U.S.-Canada trade relations had already soured even before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a speech at the World Economic Forum that angered Trump.
Carney on Wednesday in comments to lawmakers denied that he has retreated from his speech in Davos, Switzerland, in which he urged nations to accept the end of the rules-based global order that Washington had once championed.
This drew criticism from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who cautioned Carney against picking a fight with the U.S. as the USMCA review approaches.
Bessent said on CNBC television that Carney “rose to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump message, and that’s not a great place to be when you’re negotiating with an economy that is multiples larger than you are and your biggest trading partner.”
Reporting by David Lawder in Washington, Costas Pitas in Los Angeles and Brendan O’Boyle; Additional reporting by Iñigo Alexander in Mexico City; Writing by David Lawder and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Tom Hogue
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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World
Iranian man, 2nd person arrested after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear missile base: report
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Two people were arrested after allegedly unsuccessfully attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland on Thursday, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital.
One suspect was an Iranian man, while the other was a woman of unknown nationality, The Telegraph reported.
“Around 5pm on Thursday, 19 March, 2026, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde,” Police Scotland said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection and enquiries are ongoing.”
The Telegraph reported that the man was Iranian, while the woman’s nationality was not immediately known. Citing the Times, the Telegraph said the suspects were turned away from the base because they lacked the correct passes and were later arrested nearby for allegedly “acting suspiciously in the vicinity.”
IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER LINKED TO PROPERTIES WITH ‘LINE OF SIGHT’ INTO ISRAELI UK EMBASSY
HMS Artful, an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine, is shown at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025, in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
A Royal Navy spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Police Scotland have arrested two people who unsuccessfully attempted to enter HM Naval Base Clyde on Thursday 19 March. As the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further.”
HM Naval Base Clyde — commonly known as Faslane — is considered the primary base for the United Kingdom’s missile fleet.
PENCE BACKS TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES, SAYS PRESIDENT ‘IGNORED’ GOP ISOLATIONISTS
A general view of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025, in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The Royal Navy says the base is home “to the core of the Submarine Service, including the nation’s nuclear deterrent, and the new generation of hunter-killer submarines.”
The U.K. Parliament says the Royal Navy currently operates a fleet of nine submarines, with the entire fleet based at HM Naval Base Clyde.
His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, also known as Faslane, hosts the U.K.’s nuclear submarines, which are armed with Trident missiles and serve as the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
“Five of those are conventionally-armed nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Astute class. A further four are ballistic missiles submarines (SSBN) of the Vanguard class that comprise the UK’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent,” it added.
World
Iran’s Khamenei says enemy ‘defeated’ in written Nowruz message
Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he replaced his slain father as Iran’s supreme leader.
Published On 20 Mar 2026
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran’s enemies were being “defeated” in a written message for the Persian New Year, as the US and Israel continue to pound the country with attacks.
In a statement read on Iranian television on Friday, Khamenei praised the steadfastness of the Iranian people marking Nowruz, which he said ushered in the year of a “resistance economy under national unity and national security”.
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“At the moment, due to the particular unity that has been created between you, our compatriots – despite all the differences in religious, intellectual, cultural and political origins – the enemy has been defeated,” he said.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became supreme leader, following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war on February 28.
Iran’s supreme leader said that while the US and Israel believed that after one or two days of attacks, the Iranian people would overthrow the government, but this was a “gross miscalculation”.
The war was launched under “the delusion that if the pinnacle of the regime and certain influential military figures were to attain martyrdom, it would instil fear and despair in our dear people … and through this means, the dream of dominating Iran and subsequently dismembering it would be realised”, he said.
Instead, “a fracture has emerged in the enemy,” he added.
Analysts have observed that the Iranian constitution itself was drafted with the spectre of a power vacuum in mind, a “survival protocol” designed to give the system the capacity to continue even at a moment of maximum shock.
Khamenei also denied that Iran or its allied forces were responsible for attacks against Turkiye and Oman.
Those were “false flag” incidents used by Iran’s enemy to “sow discord among neighbours, and it may occur in other countries as well”, he claimed.
The Turkish Ministry of National Defence last week said NATO air defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran. Two people were killed in Oman after drones came down in the Sohar province.
The supreme leader also called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to end their fighting and said he stood ready to assist.
“We consider our eastern neighbours to be very close to us”, the supreme leader said. “I appeal to our two brotherly countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, to establish better relations with each other … and I myself am ready to take the necessary actions.”
The neighbouring countries agreed to a temporary “pause” in hostilities during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr this week, after weeks of deadly violence.
World
Natasha Lyonne Posts Health Update Two Months After Relapse: ‘Doing a Whole Lot Better and Back on Her Feet’
Natasha Lyonne is thanking fans for their support after she revealed in January that she had relapsed and was no longer sober. “Proud to report this kid is doing a whole lot better and back on her feet,” she wrote.
“Want to thank our recovery communities and the fans who stood by and were so supportive. Aiming to keep the journey somehow private, but look forward to sharing my experience, strength and hope as makes sense.”
Lyonne struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol throughout the 2000s.
After attending the Sundance Film Festival in late January, the “Poker Face” star wrote that she had relapsed and then added, “Recovery is a lifelong process. Anyone out there struggling, remember you’re not alone. Grateful for love & smart feet. Gonna do it for baby Bambo. Stay honest, folks. Sick as our secrets. If no one told ya today, I love you. No matter how far down the scales we have gone, we will see how our experience may help another. Keep going, kiddos. Don’t quit before the miracle. Wallpaper your mind with love. Rest is all noise & baloney.”
“Poker Face” was canceled at Peacock in November, though Lyonne and producer MRC were shopping a new version that would star Peter Dinklage as the bullshit-detecting detective.
Lyonne has several feature projects in the works: She is set to write and direct the indie film “Bambo” about a New York boxing promoter and was previously set to make her directing debut with “Uncanny Valley,” produced by her AI film studio Asteria Film Co.
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