Mexico's undersecretary for foreign trade said July 1 is the earliest the new NAFTA could go into effect, but also suggested that an August or September date of entry into force would be fine. Luz Maria de la Mora spoke on a webinar hosted by the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute on April 7.
Mara Lee
Mara Lee, Senior Editor, is a reporter for International Trade Today and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in early 2018, after covering health policy, Midwestern Congressional delegations, and the Connecticut economy, insurance and manufacturing sectors for the Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper (established 1674). Before arriving in Washington D.C. to cover Congress in 2005, she worked in Ohio, where she witnessed fervent presidential campaigning every four years.
Trade in products that are in severe shortage during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic accounted for 1.7% of world trade in 2019, according to a new report from the World Trade Organization. Although many of the medical products that are traded face no tariffs in many countries -- medicines rarely face a tariff, and they account for more than half the traded value -- there are goods that still face high tariffs. The WTO said the average applied tariff for hand soap is 17% and the average tariff on protective gear such as gowns, gloves and masks is 11.5%.
President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to try to claim more 3M masks for U.S. workers, made in the U.S. or in China. The company issued a statement April 3 that said: “In the course of our collaboration with the Administration this past weekend, the Administration requested that 3M increase the amount of respirators we currently import from our overseas operations into the U.S. We appreciate the assistance of the Administration to do exactly that. For example, earlier this week, we secured approval from China to export to the U.S. 10 million N95 respirators manufactured by 3M in China.
The Canadian government has sent its letter to the U.S. and Mexico certifying it is ready for the USMCA date of entry into force, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced April 3, but a top Mexican official said his country did not certify it was ready by March 31, which means a June 1 date of entry into force is out of reach.
As countries seek to acquire needed supplies of ventilators, masks and other protective gear, the deputy director for trade and agriculture at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that nationalizing production of these goods is not the answer for the next pandemic. Julia Nielson, who was speaking on a Washington International Trade Association webinar April 2, said, “I don’t think nationalization of supply has ever meant security of supply.” She said that countries may need to consider the inventories they hold, and redundancies in where they get goods, but that given the way this pandemic is spreading in waves, relying on one country, even your own, could be risky.
After 47,000 stores in the U.S. closed in a week, Flexport says that so many companies can't take shipments arriving at East Coast ports that those ports are now shopping for more warehouse space. Because importing companies' warehouses are either full or closed, they tell the ports they'll pay demurrage charges for the goods to stay there. “The ports are actually worried now they won’t have enough space,” said Chandrakant Kanoria, Flexport's head of network operations, during a webinar March 31. He said Savannah is hoping to almost double its warehouse space, and the New York and New Jersey terminals are talking with warehouse providers to try to make room, as well. There are problems in the warehouse logistics ecosystem, as well, because Amazon warehouses stopped accepting any goods other than essentials.
Exports to the European Union rose by 5.9% in 2019, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in its annual report on the business ties between Western Europe and the U.S. Exports to Belgium, Spain, Austria, Bulgaria and Denmark were all up by double digits, with the most growth in Austria, where exports were 60% above 2018 levels. However, the growth was about half the pace of 2018, when exports to the EU grew by 11%.
Trade restrictions created as result of the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis will change trade years from now and may lead to fewer international shipments in the medical arena, panelists said on a webinar March 26 hosted by the Washington International Trade Association.
Canadian and Mexican politicians are sending different messages to their countries' journalists about how quickly the uniform regulations can be completed for the new NAFTA, now known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. A Canadian politician and a labor leader told a Canadian newspaper that a June 1 date of entry into force is unlikely, given how much remains to be done to be ready, and especially with the disruption caused by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
A Georgia congressman wrote to the secretary of state, asking for a temporary export ban on medical supplies needed for coronavirus COVID-19 response. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., said on March 24 that the Northeast Georgia Health System tried to order high-speed testing equipment, and the U.S. company producing it said it is not taking orders from new customers because it has a surge in orders from Europe.