Canada will try to "move in tandem" with Mexico and the U.S. as legislatures in the three countries work to ratify the replacement for NAFTA, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters June 13. Freeland, who was in Washington to talk about ratification of the trade pact, said: "We think of it as a kind of Goldilocks approach, not too hot, not too cold, we’re not going to go too fast, we’re not going to go too slow. It does mean we are going to be spending a lot of time talking with our American counterparts to get that pacing right, and I do want to say, our excellent ambassador is here, David MacNaughton. The embassy is working extremely hard on this issue and spending a lot of time on the Hill, meeting with Democrats, with Republicans both to help people understand here how the Canadian legislative process works and also to get a better understanding of where the U.S. is and where individual members of Congress and senators are."

President Donald Trump may institute tariffs on goods from Mexico after withdrawing them if the Mexican legislature doesn't approve a part of the deal between the two countries, he said in June 10 tweets. "We have fully signed and documented another very important part of the Immigration and Security deal with Mexico, one that the U.S. has been asking about getting for many years. It will be revealed in the not too distant future and will need a vote by Mexico’s Legislative body!" he said. "We do not anticipate a problem with the vote but, if for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, Tariffs will be reinstated!" The two sides reached a deal on June 7 to avoid the tariffs (see 1906070081) with Mexico agreeing to play a bigger role in handling of migrants from Central America who seek asylum in the U.S., the two countries said in a June 7 joint statement.

Big agriculture purchases may be part of a deal with Mexico to stop tariffs from going in place as scheduled for June 10, President Donald Trump said in a June 7 tweet. "If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately," he said. "If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture' Foreign Agricultural Service on June 6 issued a guidance for the exclusion process for Chinese tariffs on U.S. exports, including an unofficial translation on the Chinese Ministry of Finance's exclusion application instructions. Among a list of directives, the guidance encourages industry associations to apply for exclusion on their members’ behalf. While USDA said China’s window for accepting applications for its published list of products will end July 5, it said China is planning to publish an additional list of goods eligible for tariff exclusions with an application window from Sept. 2 through Oct. 18.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will not attend the G-20 meeting in Japan, where he would have the opportunity for brief bilateral meetings with Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and European counterparts. Deputy USTR Dennis Shea will lead the U.S. delegation June 8 and 9.

The New Democrats caucus, which includes the most pro-free-trade members in the party in the House of Representatives, has released a lengthy list of things they want to see in exchange for their votes for the new NAFTA ratification.

The Trump administration, furious that Central American migrant asylum seekers continue to stream to the U.S., says that unless Mexico can "dramatically reduce or eliminate the number of illegal aliens" coming to the U.S., it will levy tariffs on all Mexican imports, starting June 10. The tariff will begin at 5 percent, go to 10 percent on July 1, and then increase by 5 percent each month until it reaches 25 percent on Oct. 1.

Although the Speaker of the House said the administration's decision to send over its Statement of Administrative Action and legal text of the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement was "not a positive step," some NAFTA watchers said this should not be seen as a sign that the administration is trying to force the speaker's hand and demand a vote before the August congressional recess.

China plans to begin the exclusion application process on June 3, according to a scrolling notice on the China Ministry of Finance website. "The first batch of products that can be applied for exclusion will be accepted from June 3, 2019," the notice said, according to an unofficial translation. "The deadline is July 5, 2019. The second batch of products that can be applied for exclusion will be accepted from September 2, 2019. The deadline is October 18, 2019." China announced it would initiate an exclusion process when it increased tariffs on U.S. goods in response to increased U.S. tariffs on goods from China (see 1905130043). That process is seen by some as indicative of a long trade war ahead (see 1905140034).

The U.S. and Japan are moving quickly in trade talks and "trade-wise, I think we will be announcing some things, probably in August, that will be very good for both countries," President Donald Trump said in May 27 remarks before meeting with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Asked about that announcement during a press conference following the meeting, Abe said the two sides have agreed to "accelerate the talks between the ministers." Trump highlighted that Japan recently opened up its markets for U.S. beef (see 1905170042) and said "we hope to have even more to announce on the trade very, very soon."