North American Free Trade Agreement

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is striving to graft biologics language included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership onto the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement after it was “ignored” by the Office of U.S. Trade Representative over the objections of Canada and Mexico, he said on Friday.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week showed a new “willingness” to address the Democrats' concerns with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which met with the USTR on Thursday.  

“We don't consider that a law in Mexico approved by its Congress needs someone from the outside to validate it.”

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), chairman of the House Ways & Means trade subcommittee, said this week that his caucus sees “no advantage” to rushing a vote on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, though he contended the deal was “dead” if it is not addressed before next year’s elections are in full swing.

Also: A new poll puts support for USMCA at 70 percent in the U.S., 80 percent in Mexico.

The Canadian government last week removed 10 percent tariffs on some boating devices as part of its efforts to reshape a list of goods hit with retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. Section 232 restrictions imposed on steel and aluminum last May.

Mexican officials are in Washington, DC, this week to discuss the possibility of replacing Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum with tariff-rate quotas, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade.

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement should be voted on even if tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are still in place, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Thursday, breaking from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) assertion that unless the duties are lifted the deal is “dead.”

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) on Wednesday released a side-by-side comparison of Mexico’s new labor reforms to the commitments the country made in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, touting the reforms as compliant with the deal and urging its passage.