The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on July 22 the hiring of:
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing July 27 at 9:30 a.m. to review the implementation of the USMCA one year after it entered into force on July 1, 2020. The witnesses testifying will be:
The U.S. will join World Trade Organization negotiations on strengthening transparency and fairness in domestic licensing procedures for service professionals, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 20. The WTO Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation (DR JSI) negotiations should be wrapped up by the WTO ministerial meeting in November, USTR added. The DR JSI in particular can aid industries such as retailing, express delivery and financial services, the release said. USTR also pointed to the improvements to transparency and due process introduced in the USMCA that will be expanded upon in regulations under negotiation.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for July 12-16 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
One of the obligations Canada and Mexico agreed to in the NAFTA rewrite is a ban on goods made with forced labor, but Baker McKenzie lawyers said it's not clear how much things are changing in that regard. Paul Burns, a Baker McKenzie partner in Toronto, said that while Canada has changed its law to ban the importation of goods made with forced labor, the Canadian customs agency does not disclose information about its enforcement. "We don’t know if there have been any detentions made," he said. "I expect there hasn't been."
Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, was cool to fellow Texas delegation member Sen. John Cornyn's proposal to study the possibility of allowing goods made in foreign-trade zones to be considered originating under USMCA.
The top trade officials in the U.S., Canada and Mexico gathered virtually to celebrate the one-year anniversary of USMCA, which is July 1, with Canadian and Mexican ministers emphasizing the worth of integrated supply chains and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai emphasizing the elements of USMCA that protect workers in the region and around the world. Tai said at a Wilson Center program June 30, "A good next step in this increased cooperation can be on the issue of forced labor. The USMCA includes a strong obligation to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor. Working together to address this critical economic and moral issue would send a powerful message to the world."
CBP issued an interim final rule that implements several provisions included within the USMCA. The rule, which took effect July 1, implements USMCA language on import and export requirements, "general verifications and determinations of origin, commercial samples, goods re-entered after repair or alteration in Canada or Mexico, and penalties," among other things. Another interim final rule to implement other USMCA provisions will also be issued "at a later date," said CBP.
Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade Chairman Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and ranking member Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, agree that the U.S. should be in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but the expert witnesses at the hearing they held June 22 showed no path to the U.S. reentering the agreement with the 11 countries that went on to seal the deal. This was despite agreement among most subcommittee members (though not Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio) and the witnesses that leaving TPP was a tactical mistake that leaves the U.S. at a trade and geopolitical disadvantage.
Mehlman Castagnetti hired Alex Perkins, who was most recently senior manager of international government affairs at Stellantis, previously known as Fiat Chrysler, the lobbying firm said in a June 8 news release. “A top expert in trade, customs and supply chain policy, Perkins developed and executed a government relations and public affairs strategy to guide the Fortune 500 automaker through the NAFTA/USMCA renegotiations and helped lead the multi-sector USMCA business coalition,” the firm said. Before joining the auto industry, Perkins was counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee and for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.