Mexico

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday had what he called a “good discussion” with his Mexican counterpart about new tariffs threatened last week by President Trump, as agriculture groups and key lawmakers warned the costs to an already reeling industry could be steep.

The Mexican foreign affairs minister said he would meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “We will be firm and we will defend the dignity of Mexico.”

Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has come out against President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Mexican goods, citing concern over the ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it was considering a legal challenge to the move.

In response to President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on all goods from Mexico, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called for the two sides to “deepen the dialogue” on immigration issues, beginning with a high-level meeting on Friday.

The president said he was “invoking the authorities granted to me by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act” to impose the duties, which will begin at 5 percent on June 10.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer plans to send a draft statement of administrative action required on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to Congress on Thursday, sources told Inside U.S. Trade, starting the 30-day clock allowing for the submission of final implementing legislation to Capitol Hill.

The Mexican president predicted the deal would be ratified soon by all three parties.

“If I were a lawyer … I wouldn’t accept such a case.”

Members of the House Ways & Means trade subcommittee this week used a hearing on U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enforcement to address issues with the scope of the new pact’s investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, asking whether the tool should apply more broadly.