Canada

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with members of the House Democrat working group in charge of ironing out differences in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement this week, with two key lawmakers saying the sides had made significant progress.

“Doing so is essential to promoting certainty and growth for manufacturing businesses, workers and families across the United States – each of whom relies on trade with our North American partners to prosper and grow.”

House Democrats and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are pushing to wrap up negotiations on outstanding U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement issues by the end of October, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade.

“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.