U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy USTR Jayme White headed to Cancun, Mexico, to meet with Mexican Economy Secretary Raquel Buenrostro and Canada's trade minister, Mary Ng, ahead of the official USMCA Free Trade Commission meeting on July 6.
Three automakers are changing their blanket coverage period for USMCA documentation, the Automotive Industry Action Group said in an emailed alert. Ford, GM and Honda had been issuing blanket documentation that covered the period July 1 to June 30 each year, as a result of the USMCA’s July 1, 2020, effective date. The three automakers will now switch to blanket periods that run for the calendar year, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, the AIAG said. The change will “better align with other trade agreements” and “make it easier for suppliers to manage their trade documentation processes,” the AIAG said. The change will take effect for GM and Honda Jan. 1, 2024, and for Ford Jan. 1, 2025, the AIAG said.
The U.S. and Mexico have been consulting about U.S. complaints about favoritism to Mexican energy providers for 11 months, with no public movement toward a dispute settlement panel, and Karen Antebi, a former NAFTA negotiator, said she doesn't expect that to change in the next year.
The World Trade Organization is steadily headed towards irrelevancy to global trade and is facing a "long, slow sunset," said Peter Harrell, former senior director for international economics and competitiveness at the White House, during remarks at the Georgetown International Trade Update on June 13.
The U.S. asked for formal dispute settlement consultations with Mexico over its policies on biotech products, but did not commit to moving forward with a panel request if the consultations are not fruitful within 75 days. That's the earliest a panel could be requested under USMCA.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., and 62 other Republican members, including Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to open a formal dispute under USMCA over Mexico's treatment of biotech corn imports.
Mexico, Canada and the U.S. will hold a USMCA Labor Council virtual public session on implementation of the treaty's labor chapter on June 29. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is inviting comments ahead of the meeting, and asking for registration to participate in the two-and-a-half-hour virtual meeting that begins at 1 p.m. EDT. Registration details will be available on the USTR and Department of Labor websites starting June 1. Comments should be sent to ILAB-Outreach@DOL.gov and MBX.USTR.USMCAhotline@ustr.eop.gov with the subject line USMCA Labor Council Meeting.
Former chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Gregg Doud called for the use of the new enforcement mechanism in the USMCA during a House Agriculture Committee hearing May 11.
Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said that Canada and its partners in NAFTA 2.0 will not be caught unawares when it's time for the sunset review in 2026. She said that she and her counterparts in Mexico and the U.S. will be taking stock of how the agreement is working in July.
In more than four hours of questioning during a hearing March 24 before the House Ways and Means Committee, no member of Congress advocated for lessening tariffs on Chinese goods under Section 301, or for reopening exclusions applications.