Canada

“This is the hunt for USMCA October.”

CoBank notes in its quarterly economic review that trade tensions “continue to mount as global economic growth slows.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is floating a digital services tax similar to a French tax that led the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to launch a Section 301 investigation earlier this year.

The Trump administration's U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementing bill is being eyed as a potential trade-off for a pension measure that might ensure more Democratic support for the trade deal, according to a report issued this week by a conservative think tank.

Despite the launch of an impeachment inquiry this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday implored fellow Democrats to stay focused on moving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement forward in talks with the administration, according to a key lawmaker.

A group of House Democrats next week will present U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer a response to the agency’s attempt to address concerns with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) said on Friday, adding that the two sides had agreed to “intensify” negotiations.

“There's a lot of uncertainty in this industry. And this negotiation is looking for certainty for the next four years for these workers.”

House Ways & Means Committee trade panel leaders are circulating a letter urging the Trump administration not to lower the U.S. de minimis threshold as part of a renegotiated NAFTA, contending that doing so would override congressional authority.