North American Free Trade Agreement

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she held a “constructive” meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Thursday to discuss the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which she made clear was far from certain to win Democrats' approval.

Mexico, under newly inaugurated President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is redesigning its list of retaliatory moves in response to the U.S.' Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, mulling steeper tariffs on politically salient products aimed at catching the attention of the 116th Congress, according to sources and press reports.

A new footnote in the labor chapter of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement could provide a loophole for the U.S. to escape obligations in the deal's workplace discrimination provisions, sources said.

Even as U.S. industry groups applauded the signing of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on Friday, they made clear their continued frustration that Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remained.

BUENOS AIRES -- U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is confident the trilateral trade deal inked by the U.S., Mexico and Canada will garner enough support in Congress -- and he is adamant that “a very high number of Democrats” will vote for the implementing legislation.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called GM's recent plant closings a “heavy blow,” adding, “and Donald, it's all the more reason why we need to keep working to remove the tariffs on steel and aluminum between our countries.”

BUENOS AIRES – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was signed on Friday without a resolution on U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs despite last-minute negotiations, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade.

“For the sake of Canada’s dairy sector, and its overall sovereignty, we ask that you please reconsider until the issue of U.S. oversight can be properly addressed.”

Representatives from a swath of industry sectors are coalescing on Capitol Hill this week to make a final push for a resolution to Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, with many executives calling on Congress to play a more active role.