House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Chairwoman Maria Elena Salazar, R-Fla., asked a State Department official to press Mexico to stop accepting Cuban doctors' services, which she says is human trafficking. Salazar held a hearing on Mexico's relationship with its neighbors this week in the subcommittee.
A bill to allow goods headed for export to Mexico and Canada to avoid tariffs on imported components was introduced this week by five House Republicans and one Democrat.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration will recommend renewal of USMCA only if 20 issues can be resolved, and maybe more, as he told Congress this isn't an exhaustive list.
Three Senate Democrats are asking the U.S. trade representative to publish a written report on the administration's objectives for USMCA renegotiations.
A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House to ask the U.S. trade representative to push Mexico and Canada to establish an investment screening regime and coordinate on "shared threats from investments in strategically important economic sectors and critical infrastructure in North America."
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Agriculture Department announced on Dec. 12 that Mexico had agreed to release water from the Rio Grande to Texas farmers. This irritant had caused President Donald Trump to threaten Dec. 8 to hike International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs on Mexico from 25% to 30% (see 2512090013). Those tariffs apply to goods that don't qualify under USMCA, and are not subject to Section 232 tariffs.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
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.