Crowds are gathering this summer for a series of rallies called the Cross-Border Days of Solidarity, pressing for workers’ rights as the Trump administration renegotiates the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal.

The three countries missed Wednesday's deadline to extend the USMCA, triggering a series of annual reviews over the next decade. The United States and Mexico have already begun two-way negotiations on the trade deal and are scheduled to meet next on July 20 in Mexico City. The administration also plans to speak with Canadian leaders soon.

Will Wiltschko, director of the California Trade Justice Coalition, said President Donald Trump is trying to escape his past mistakes.

“Rather than try to distance himself from the pact he called the greatest trade deal ever and promised would bring jobs pouring into the country," Wiltschko said, "he should be taking its mandated review serious, and pushing for the changes needed to actually create jobs, raise wages and balance trade for working families.”

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In future negotiations, activists are asking federal officials to prioritize people over corporate profits, reject what they call a race to the bottom that attempts to pit working people in the three countries against one another, and emphasize shared interests in well-paying jobs, a healthy environment and sovereignty.

Trump has said his primary concern with the USMCA involves trade deficits with Mexico and Canada. He has made tariffs the centerpiece of his economic policy, and says they have already changed the nature of the relationship between the neighboring countries.

Wiltschko said tariffs can be useful if they are used strategically.

“It's not really effective if you implement tariffs and then you withdraw tariffs, then you implement them and then you withdraw them,” Wiltschko said. “And it seems to be just some kind of punishment thing or a way to try to leverage political power. It's not how tariffs are supposed to be done.”

The Cross-Border Days of Solidarity will continue with rallies in Chico on August 1 and Sacramento on August 2.

The USMCA replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.