With the conclusion of the ratification process, the United States Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA) is set to enter into force on July 1, 2020.  The USMCA, replacing the NAFTA, will notably limit the scope of using arbitration to resolve investment disputes to those concerning violation of but a few USMCA provisions (national treatment, most-favored-nation treatment standards, and direct expropriation), and to those concerning “Government Contracts” and “Legacy Investments,” as defined in the USMCA. Canada has consented to submit to arbitration only disputes related to “legacy investments.”

Our international Arbitration Focus Team analyses the USMCA in the document available here.