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Assured Guaranty Representative
Are you looking to invest in municipal bonds? For extra protection, buy bonds insured by Assured guaranty. It guarantees 100% of your principal and interest will be paid when due. Assured Guaranty has demonstrated its reliability and financial strength for nearly four decades. That's why the bonds they back are one of the safest investments you can make. Visit assuredguaranty.com assured guarantee a Stronger Bond
Odoo Representative
Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo, the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier from CRM, accounting, inventory, e Commerce and more. And the best part? Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. This is why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o.com
Nancy Marshall Genser
the anxiety of Multiple Layoffs From Marketplace, I'm Nancy Marshall Genser in for David Boncaccio. Meta announced this week it's laying off hundreds of workers across several divisions, fresh after another round of cuts back in January. If it feels like you're regularly hearing about layoffs in the tech sector, you are not imagining things. The resumes say Zeti does did a survey of tech layoff announcements and found almost a third of tech companies did at least two rounds of layoffs between 2023 and 2025. Marketplace's Kimberly Adams has more.
Kimberly Adams
Zeti looked at publicly reported data about more than 1,000 tech companies. Here's Zeti's Jasmine Escalera.
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
We saw that almost half of all layoffs come from repeat layoff companies, and 70% of repeat layoffs are actually happening within 12 months.
Kimberly Adams
It's bad enough for the workers left behind after one round of layoffs, with survivor's guilt and all. But Vicky Salemi with job search site Monster says when you have multiple layoffs,
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
they're thinking, okay, wait a minute, am I next? So there's more anxiety. Usually there's more concern. There's just more, more stress in general.
Kimberly Adams
And that has consequences for the business as well. Sandra Sutcher at Harvard business school says 70% of companies that lay people off see a decline in employee morale in the first year, and there's a 20%
Nancy Marshall Genser
decline in productivity, higher rates of product defects, and in general, a sort of a concern about taking risks because it's
Kimberly Adams
hard to do your best work when you're worried the next round of layoffs is coming for you. In Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams for Marketplace.
Nancy Marshall Genser
The Senate has approved a package funding most of the Department of Homeland Security, including the Transportation Security Administration. There is no funding for ICE or the Border Patrol. The bill now goes to the House for a vote.
Puerto Rico Investment Promotion Representative / Dell Representative
Expanding to the US Market doesn't have to mean higher costs. Puerto Rico is a US Jurisdiction with federal regulatory alignment, strong IP protections, and seamless access to the US Mainland. It's why companies like Amgen, Honeywell and Lufthansa Technik operate high value manufacturing and aerospace services from the island. Add competitive tax incentives in a highly skilled bilingual workforce and the advantage is clear. It's not what's next, it's where. Puerto Rico. Learn more@investpr.org Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for the moments that matter. For the moment you plan and the ones you don't. Built for the busy days that turn into all night study sessions. The moment you're working from a cafe and realize every outlet's taken, the times you're deep in your flow and the absolute last thing you need is an auto update throwing off your momentum. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to the way you actually work. Built with long lasting battery so you're not scrambling for the closest outlet. And built in intelligence that makes updates around your schedule, not in the middle of it. They don't build tech for tech's sake, they build it for you. Find technology built for the way you work@dell.com DellPCS built for you
Nancy Marshall Genser
two US senators are calling on the Commerce Department to investigate reports of heavy construction and farm equipment made in Mexico. This comes as a Trump administration review of the US Mexico Canada agreement is underway. The USMCA accounts for more than $4 billion worth of cross border trade. It was an economic cornerstone of President Trump's first term and it is up for renewal. For more on this, we're joined by Lori Wallach. She's director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit research organization. She's been tracking negotiations. Lori, welcome.
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
Thank you.
Nancy Marshall Genser
So the USMCA is up for renewal six years after it took effect. Of course it allowed for duty free trade among the U.S. canada and Mexico, but its future is up in the air, partly because it didn't live up to its promises for the US well,
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
it's a little unclear what will happen next. The agreement, which was, you know, something President Trump called incredible and was his biggest success of trade in his first term, has had outcomes that were basically the opposite of what we were promised. So we have fewer manufacturing jobs overall in the US Economy than before the usmca. We have fewer auto manufacturing jobs. And our trade balance with our partners, Mexico and Canada is much, much bigger. And so that is a set of problems that can be fixed in fixing this agreement. But the President has to decide to do that.
Nancy Marshall Genser
So negotiations have started. Can you tell us where the negotiations are at the moment? I think Mexico is farther along than Canada.
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
Here the three countries have started bilateral meetings. Mexico and Canada are not meeting with the US together, but rather US Canada, US Mexico. And the meetings with Mexico have gone farther so far. But the really big fixes, the things that are necessary. For instance, the premise of the USMCA replacing NAFTA was we'd have a high standard, higher wage agreement and we'd get rid of that trade deficit because workers in Mexico would make more be able to buy more exports from the U.S. and so the biggest problem with USMCA remains the direly low wages in Mexico. And that is a scenario that a big renegotiation with some new rules also to make sure that imports from countries that aren't playing by the rules don't get in that can fix some of these problems.
Nancy Marshall Genser
So the US and Mexico have a lot to talk about. Where is Canada?
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
Mexico, Canada and the U.S. all agreed to put up high tariffs against imports of subsidized trade cheating Chinese electric vehicles. And that has actually helped within North America to try and solidify creating a supply chain here. And Canada unilaterally dropped that and has proceeded to invite Chinese firms to come in and invest, make Chinese cars in Canada. And that is going to be a huge problem to overcome because there won't be a successful North American auto market without really a North American auto market. And that's going to require these external tariffs.
Nancy Marshall Genser
So I guess USMCA's chances of survival are helped because it has some bipartisan support. Absolutely.
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
There is a transpartisan interest in getting this agreement and getting North America to be that high wage manufacturing powerhouse that we need. So there is majority support, I would say, in Congress probably to pass a renegotiated USMCA that fixes some of these structural issues to actually make it deliver the balanced trade and good jobs and higher wages that was its initial promise.
Nancy Marshall Genser
Lori Wallach is director at Rethink Trade. Thank you.
Jasmine Escalera / Lori Wallach
Thank you.
Nancy Marshall Genser
Our executive producer is Nancy Fargali. Our digital team includes Antoinette Brock, Emily McCune and Dylan Mietanen. Our engineers are Brian Allison, Tessa Block and David Schreck. In Washington, I'm Nancy Marshall Genzer with the Marketplace Morning Report from apm, American Public Media.
David Brancaccio
Hey, David Brancaccio here. I hope you're well and that your passport is up to date because I am hosting a trip to Ital this fall and you, you are invited stay at a world class Tuscan villa and step into the world of the Medici, the formidable family whose influence and power helped give rise to the Renaissance and the art we still celebrate today, not to mention the banking system. We're going to visit the world's oldest bank, swim in the thermal spa waters in Montecatini and take in the art of the Uffizi. All of this, and then we'll try to put it all into context with great conversation over even better meals and wine tasting. Please join me and know this. Buying into this trip will provide essential support for Public media. Discover more about this fall's tuscany adventure@marketplace.org travel to reserve your spot today, that's marketplace.org travel.
Episode: What’s next for the USMCA?
Date: March 27, 2026
Host: Nancy Marshall-Genzer (in for David Brancaccio)
This episode centers on the impending review and uncertain future of the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), a cornerstone trade agreement that defines North American economic relations. With the USMCA up for renewal, the show features commentary and analysis from Lori Wallach, director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project, who outlines the deal’s shortcomings, the negotiation process, and what’s at stake for jobs, trade balances, and manufacturing.
Segment Begins: 00:59
Segment Begins: 02:39
Main Segment Begins: 04:33
Guest: Lori Wallach, Rethink Trade (American Economic Liberties Project)
| Timestamp | Segment | Key Topics Discussed | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 00:59 | Tech industry layoffs analysis | Layoff trends, employee anxiety, business effects | | 02:39 | Senate DHS funding bill update | TSA funding, excluded agencies, where bill stands | | 04:33 | USMCA up for renewal | Commerce investigation, trade flows, USMCA background | | 05:11 | Lori Wallach on USMCA performance | Shortcomings, job loss, trade deficit | | 06:16 | State of negotiations | Bilateral talks, wage issues in Mexico | | 07:08 | Canadian divergence in auto sector | Tariffs against Chinese EVs, supply chain risks | | 08:01 | Political support for USMCA improvement | Bipartisan consensus, future prospects | | 08:30 | Lori Wallach on what's needed in renegotiation | Delivering original promises of the USMCA |
This episode provides a concise yet thorough briefing on both key economic news and deeper North American trade issues. Listeners gain insights into:
The commentary illustrates urgent concerns and points of contention, especially around Canadian policy divergence and persistent low wages in Mexico, setting the stage for a contentious renegotiation process. Despite shortcomings, bipartisan support suggests the deal’s next iteration could be both ambitious and more equitable—if hard political work succeeds.