Steve Verheul, Canada's chief trade negotiator during President Donald Trump's first term, who worked on NAFTA's replacement, says Canada wants a trade pact that has known rules, and whose stability allows companies to make long-term plans.
The House Select Committee on China agreed that the Bureau of Industry and Security's connected vehicle rule, which was issued at the end of the Biden administration but starts to bite in mid-March, should be codified.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he expects the U.S. will announce more trade deals, and release text about previously announced framework deals "in the coming weeks."
The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would give CBP more leeway to share information about suspected counterfeit goods with private companies. The bill would allow CBP to use a "reasonable suspicion" standard to provide nonpublic information about the merchandise generated by an online marketplace, an express consignment operator, a freight forwarder or "any other entity that plays a role in the sale or importation of merchandise into the United States or the facilitation of such sale or importation."
The House Ways and Means Committee voted 37-3 to recommend a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act through the end of 2028, with retroactive benefits since the program expired Sept. 30 (see 2512090051). Requests for liquidation or reliquidation would have to be filed within 180 days of enactment of the law, and CBP would have to pay within 90 days. No interest would be offered on the tariff refunds.
Steel interests, steelworkers and aluminum interests mostly said that 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum should remain for Canadian and Mexican exports even after upcoming USMCA review, with exceptions among some aluminum witnesses and the Mexican steel industry.
Auto industry representatives asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to let the USMCA autos rule of origin continue -- or to simplify it -- while the United Autoworkers called for "complete rewrite" of the pact next year, including wage floors in all three countries in auto and parts plants and "explicit job security provisions for American workers."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and other major voices of business said Section 232 tariffs applied to Canadian and Mexican goods that meet USMCA eligibility are a clear violation of the pact, and need to end. The business groups, which opened the second day of an Interagency hearing on what the U.S. should prioritize in next year's USMCA review, also emphasized how imports from and exports to Mexico and Canada are essential for domestic manufacturing.
Specialty crop interests testifying at the first of three days of hearings on UMSCA Dec. 3 disagreed on whether duty-free access for Mexican imports should continue, and protectionists' arguments were echoed by Global Trade Watch.
Think tank scholars and lawyers emphasized that Section 232 tariffs on Mexican and Canadian autos, steel, aluminum and lumber are engendering rancor and suspicion, and the uncertainty of future tariffs levels on Mexican and Canadian imports is a silent tax causing businesses to halt investments and expansions.