Mexico’s Senate this week voted 76-5, with 35 abstentions, to approve new higher tariffs on a range of products imported from China and other countries that don't have free trade agreements with Mexico, according to an unofficial translation of the Senate's news release.
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."
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signaled that the Trump administration is preparing a broad overhaul of key parts of the USMCA, focusing on changing non-automobile rules of origin to incentivize U.S. production.
Expanding access to manifest data from sources to include air cargo manifests and other transportation modes could provide the public and trade stakeholders with greater ability to ferret out forced labor in the supply chain, said Laura Murphy, senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Human Rights Initiative, in a Dec. 8 blog post.
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.
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website Dec. 5, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
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.
Almost 75 House members, from both parties, asked the U.S. trade representative to hold Canada accountable for not meeting its dairy commitments under USMCA. The U.S. already brought two panels against Canada over the issue of its tariff rate quota administration, and while it won some arguments in the first dispute, Canada's fixes were ruled adequate in the second (see 2311240002).
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 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on the efficacy of USMCA for the automotive industry.