International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from June 14-18 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
USMCA
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is a free trade agreement between the three countries, also known as CUSMA in Canada and T-MEC in Mexico. Replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, the agreement contains a unique sunset provision where, after six years (in 2026), any of the three parties may decide not to continue the agreement in its current form and begin a period of up to 10 years where USMCA provisions may be renegotiated.
Senate Finance Subcommittee on International Trade Chairman Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and ranking member Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, agree that the U.S. should be in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but the expert witnesses at the hearing they held June 22 showed no path to the U.S. reentering the agreement with the 11 countries that went on to seal the deal. This was despite agreement among most subcommittee members (though not Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio) and the witnesses that leaving TPP was a tactical mistake that leaves the U.S. at a trade and geopolitical disadvantage.
Canada has requested a state-to-state dispute panel over the U.S. safeguard tariffs against Canadian solar cells and panels, because under USMCA, and NAFTA before it, safeguards are not supposed to apply in North America if the exports from either Canada or Mexico are not contributing to serious injury in the domestic market. The International Trade Commission said Canada was not contributing to the harm to the U.S. solar manufacturing industry. Several members of the Washington state delegation to Congress have also argued Canada should not be a target, both for that reason, and because exempting Canada could add to jobs in solar manufacturing in their state (see 2106090066).
The Mexican government told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that it will look into the allegation that workers' rights were violated at the Tridonex plant in Matamoros, and that it will share the results of the review no later than July 24. The Mexican government sent the letter June 18, it announced in a June 19 press release. The AFL-CIO had asked USTR to bring the complaint under the Rapid Response mechanism of USMCA, and USTR agreed to do so (see 2106100011).
CBP posted multiple documents ahead of the June 23 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting:
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 16. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
The auto industry will begin to comply with USMCA's auto rules of origin soon, but one of the biggest questions on regional value content continues to be contested. Dan Ujczo, a senior counsel for Thompson Hine's international trade practice and a USMCA expert, said summary reports from USMCA committees show that Mexican, Canadian and U.S. officials were unable to agree on how regional content should be calculated.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated June 15. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
Regulatory agencies with import authorities listed several new rules in their first regulatory agenda since the arrival in office of President Joe Biden. New rulemakings listed by the agencies include new restrictions on chemicals, a slate of regulatory amendments related to Section 232 investigations, and a new proposal on administrative destruction of medical devices refused entry.
The Treasury Department published its spring 2021 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda includes some details about a proposal to change USMCA rules for non-preferential origin determinations for merchandise imported from Canada or Mexico. The proposal was previously disclosed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, within the Office of Management and Budget (see 2105120051), where it remains under review.