On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump casually told reporters that in 2026 he might end the CUSMA free trade deal. The deal, signed in 2018, allows any member state to withdraw with six months’ notice. Ending 32 years of free trade between the U.S. and Canada would be virtually guaranteed to plunge Canada into recession, but the good news is that it’s not quite as simple as Trump ripping up the deal. As an international treaty with accompanying implementation legislation, only the U.S. Congress could definitively cancel the deal. Also, the prior free trade agreement, NAFTA, is still technically in force and would kick back in if CUSMA was removed.