Mexico

Efforts to ensure a host of labor and enforcement commitments required by the time the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enters into force -- which could be as soon as June 1 -- are picking up speed, according to government officials.

As the Trump administration works to appease seasonal growers, Mexico is mulling how it might retaliate if trade restrictions are imposed on its agricultural exports, government and private-sector officials tell Inside U.S. Trade.

Canadian Governor General Julie Payette on Friday gave “royal assent” to the deal after Parliament approved it.

The Trump administration is pushing to ensure the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enters into force by June 1, sources familiar with the plan told Inside U.S. Trade.

The White House last week formed interagency committees to help facilitate the enforcement of environmental obligations and provisions on trade in auto goods in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Hoffa: “The renegotiation of NAFTA and the subsequent improvements made by Democratic leadership have resulted in a final package that is superior to the original.”

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement protocol of amendment signed by the three countries last week is drawing praise from labor analysts and business representatives for its tweaks to some provisions in the original deal, but the efficacy of a new rapid-response enforcement tool is stirring some concern.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) told Inside U.S. Trade that Ways & Means Committee staff was “literally working around the clock” on the deal’s next steps and “living on junk food so hopefully we’ll see something soon.”

In the late-stage U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement negotiations that ended this week, Mexico accepted a version of a labor enforcement mechanism and penalties for workers’ rights violations it had initially rejected because of a range of additional requirements that were attached to the proposals, Mexico’s chief trade negotiator told Inside U.S. Trade in an interview this week.