Negotiations between the United States, Mexico, and Canada should address all the flaws in the current trade pact that have contributed to rising inequality.

As Senator Bernie Sanders put it after Trump’s recent address to Congress, “the purpose of all of this lying is not just to push his hateful right-wing ideology. It is not just to try to divide us up. It’s more than that. It’s a masterful effort to deflect attention away from the most important issues facing the people of our country, issues that Trump and his billionaire friends do not want to address because it’s not in their financial interests to do so.”

Trump appears to have no interest in tackling the revision of the USMCA comprehensively. This agreement isn’t just about trade — the document contains 34 chapters, in addition to annexes, protocols, and a climate cooperation compromise. The chapters contain everything from a vague acknowledgement of legal obligations to indigenous communities to overly broad rights for foreign investors.

Beyond tariffs, when and how are issues like intellectual property, telecommunications and digital rights, small businesses and climate change being discussed? Where are abuses of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) suits being publicly discussed?