Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Martha Bárcena said that she has been told that the U.S. will not comply with the panel ruling that said that rollup was understood to be part of the automotive rule of origin (see 2403070067), and she said that is undermining USMCA. She said that's because both the Republicans and the Democrats are fighting for the political support of the United Autoworkers and Teamsters. (The autoworkers' union characterizes rollup as watering down the requirement for North American content in vehicles).
Virginia Lenahan was named the chief international trade counsel on the Senate Finance Committee’s majority staff, committee Chair Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced in an Oct. 3 emailed news release. Since joining the committee in 2019 as a trade counsel, Lenahan has worked on issues related to USMCA, the Inflation Reduction Act and more.
Global Affairs Canada is accepting public comments until Oct. 31 on Canadians’ views on USMCA ahead of Canada’s chairing of the fifth meeting of the USMCA Free Trade Commission in 2025 and the first joint review of the trade deal by all three countries in 2026. The consultations, launched Aug 21, will “provide Canadians with an opportunity to share their views on and experiences with key areas of” the deal, the country said, “including elements of the agreement that are working well and those that can be further improved.”
A former top trade negotiator in Mexico, Juan Carlos Baker Pineda, said he doesn't think the review of the USMCA will be about fine-tuning or technical changes to the trade pact.
Almost three years after environmental groups asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to ask the tri-national Commission on Environmental Cooperation to establish a formal factual record of Mexico's failure to enforce its ban on gillnets in the Upper Gulf of California in Mexico (see 2108130052), that commission will begin such a fact-finding mission.
Canada's Trade Minister Mary Ng, under questions from parties to the left and right of her Liberal party, as well as the Québécois party, said the fact that there are outstanding disagreements between Canada and the U.S. on U.S. trade remedies on softwood lumber, on auto rules of origin and on Canadian dairy import restrictions does not mean that Canada will get big-footed in the free trade review.
House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., during a hearing on competition with China in the Western Hemisphere, argued that the shortages experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic show that businesses should move supply chains to the Western Hemisphere.
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The Aluminum Association cheered the Mexican decision to apply tariffs to 544 tariff lines in aluminum and aluminum products. The tariffs are as low as 5% or 10% on some products, but are 25% and 35% on most.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements seeks comments by May 24 on a request by Canada to change the USMCA rules of origin for a fabric used in the production of fire hose. Canada says there is no commercial availability in the U.S., Canada or Mexico of “high-tenacity polyester yarn, single or multiple, multifilament, untwisted, untextured, and measuring more than 920 decitex, used in the production of fire hose, with or without lining, armor or accessories of other materials.” The yarn is classifiable in subheading 5402.20, and “end-use classification” for the fire hose is heading 5909.