Mexico

“The biggest threat to the USMCA in establishing a strong global baseline for IP protection lies in its exclusion of a whole swathe of the Canadian economy.”

The Commerce Department on Thursday announced its intent with withdraw from a suspension agreement with Mexico involving fresh tomatoes -- a move some U.S. legislators called for earlier this week.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday submitted to Capitol Hill changes to existing laws he says will be needed to bring the U.S. into compliance with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“The 232s are doing nothing but allowing others to gain market share in the U.S.”

In a letter to Ross and Lighthizer, the associations say they “wish to underscore the importance of lifting tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and the removal of all retaliatory tariffs on trade among the parties.”

“Subjecting shipments from Canada and Mexico to a reciprocal threshold would place administrative and cost burdens on small businesses, increase complexity for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and start a global race to lower thresholds – undermining U.S. e-commerce leadership.”

Incoming Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said on Wednesday that if Democrats insist on re-opening trade talks with Canada and Mexico, the president should “pull out” of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

A coalition of business groups focused on getting the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement through Congress is slated to be launched in the coming weeks, Inside U.S. Trade has learned.

The Mexican Congress failed to meet a Jan. 1 deadline to pass legislation to establish labor reforms called for in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, with a bill introduced last month in the Chamber of Deputies unlikely to be addressed until February.