Washington DC - The US and Mexico on Thursday announced that negotiators will meet in a week for bilateral talks in the shadow of a looming review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) next month.

Negotiators are set to hold their first meeting the week of March 16 and convene regularly after that, the US Trade Representative's office announced in a statement on Thursday, citing Mexico's Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard.

"The ministers instructed negotiators to begin a scoping discussion on the necessary measures to ensure the benefits of the [USMCA] accrue primarily to the parties," the USTR said.

According to the statement, Mexico and the US will look at "reducing dependence on imports from outside the region, strengthening rules of origin, and enhancing the security of North American supply chains."

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The USMCA is due to be reviewed in July amid the climate of a harsh economic war waged by President Donald Trump over the course of his second term in office.

Trump originally signed and praised the pact during his first presidency but has publicly mused about ditching the agreement entirely as tensions with Canada have skyrocketed over recent months.

While Trump has continuously threatened both Mexico and Canada with sweeping tariffs, he has generally allowed exceptions for trade included in the crucial free trade pact.

Canada's minister for Canada-US trade, Dominic LeBlanc, has voiced optimism over the future of the agreement and is due to be in Washington on Friday, where he will meet with trade representative Jamieson Greer.

In January, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was forced to publicly defend the USMCA after Trump referred to the agreement as "irrelevant."

"For every job created in Mexico, three jobs were created in the United States," Sheinbaum said. "It is beneficial for the United States, and it is beneficial for Mexico."