The U.S. should keep in place the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel from both Mexico and Canada even if it impedes movement on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the American Line Pipe Producers Association said in a news release. The group, a coalition of large-diameter welded pipe (LDWP) producers, took issue with recent United Steelworkers calls for the removal of the tariffs before any USMCA ratification (see 1903250035). "While ALPPA supports the USMCA, it strongly rejects that USMCA should be tied to removal of Section 232 tariffs, particularly given the trade-distortive practices of Canada and Mexico," the group said.
Cummins CEO Tom Linebarger, who chairs the Business Roundtable Trade and International Committee, released a statement on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement after the Business Roundtable hosted President Donald Trump at its quarterly board meeting on March 21. “The CEO members of Business Roundtable, who lead companies with more than 15 million employees, strongly support congressional passage of USMCA implementing legislation this year. We stand united to preserve and modernize North American trade, which supports over 12 million jobs and a strong U.S. economy," he said. The Business Roundtable will work to build the necessary support to pass that bill, he added.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who was ranking member on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a prominent NAFTA foe, are soliciting signatures for a letter they plan to send later this month on the importance of including Mexican labor reforms in a new NAFTA, now called the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement.
Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., said that with an approval rate of just under 6 percent for steel exclusion requests when domestic firms objected, "it really looks like somebody's finger is on the scale." In a sit-down with International Trade Today, Walorski explained how what started with complaints from 10 businesses in her district -- which is heavy with steel-consuming RV manufacturers -- has made her office the place for companies around the country to share their problems with exclusions. "We knew this is probably what was going to happen," she said of the exclusion process that favors domestic producers.
While U.S. textile manufacturers and apparel industries “have expressed overall support” for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the two sectors disagree on several key provisions, including certain rules of origin and enforcement procedures, according to a March 5 report by the Congressional Research Service.
The Canadian Minister-Counselor for Trade said negotiators on the new NAFTA solved the roster problem in the old Chapter 20 of NAFTA, which was that any country could block the appointment of panelists in a dispute (see 1807230029). "That particular issue is a dramatic improvement from NAFTA 1 and NAFTA 2," Colin Bird said March 8 during an International Trade Update conference hosted by Georgetown's law school. President Donald Trump said on March 8 about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that "we’ll be submitting [it] to Congress very shortly," and said the deal is "a great deal for the United States."
Eight of the 10 members of Arizona's congressional delegation, including both senators, have signed a letter to the Commerce Secretary arguing that the suspension of the Mexico tomato agreement is not in the national interest. "We encourage the Administration to continue to craft agricultural trade policy that seeks to strengthen the industry nationally, not one that is calibrated around regional or seasonal interests," the March 1 letter said. They encouraged Commerce to revise the tomato suspension agreement rather than terminate it without a replacement, because the latter move would create uncertainty in the supply chain and could trigger retaliation against agriculture exports.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 25 - March 1 in case they were missed.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association wants NAFTA to stay in place while Congress is working on ratifying its replacement, it announced March 4. "More than 200,000 American jobs in our industry are supported by NAFTA. We are calling on Congress to approve the USMCA this year and for the Administration to quickly and seamlessly implement it,” said Rick Helfenbein, AAFA president and CEO. The organization had previously joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-organized USMCA Coalition (see 1902250024) to push for passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to replace NAFTA.
The new NAFTA will reverse outsourcing decisions in the auto industry, the U.S. Trade Representative's annual report on the trade agenda said, and one of the administration's top priorities for 2019 is to get Congress to ratify it. The report, which spends 26 pages on this year's agenda and the rest laying out the status of current free trade agreements, negotiations and enforcement actions during 2018, was released late March 1. Generally, the report defended the administration's actions, arguing they're not protectionist but rather pro-worker, and noting that both imports and exports grew in high single digits during the first 11 months of 2018.