Professor Elizabeth Trujillo
Dec. 3, 2025 ‒ University of Houston Law Center Professor Elizabeth Trujillo recently presented her chapter on the Path Forward for Environment in the USMCA, at a seminar hosted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico Institute for Legal Research (Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas) (UNAM-IIJ) for its upcoming book, “The End of Free Trade?: Challenges to International Trade and Investment Regulation in the Face of New Protectionism.”
This is the first publication in English and Spanish that assesses the end of an era for North American trade and investment that started with the NAFTA, later the USMCA, and examines a new economic trajectory for the North America region as we enter into the 2026 USCMA review and its possible renegotiation. The book will be published in English and Spanish by UNAM.
A leading scholar in international economic law, trade and investment law, sustainable development, and comparative law, Professor Trujillo examined the evolving regional relationship for trade, investment and environmental regulation, including biodiversity challenges, for the emerging digital and technological regional economy in an era of increasing protectionist policies during her presentation.
The seminar brought together contributing authors to present and discuss their chapters for the book, coordinated by UNAM’s Institute of Legal Research, which is widely recognized as the top legal research institution in Mexico and one of the most prestigious in Latin America. Scholars, including Mexican and U.S. academics, policymakers, and practitioners, exchanged their central arguments and received feedback from fellow contributors.
Trujillo, the Mary Ann & Lawrence E. Faust Professor of Law, is the Founding Director of the Initiative on Global Law and Policy for the Americas at the UH Law Center. Her work has been featured in major law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, including Boston College Law Review, Harvard Latin American Law Review, and the Journal of International Economic Law.
