Even as it described the cloudy outlook for the new NAFTA's ratification, a new report from the American Council for Capital Formation's Center for Policy Research says policy makers should ratify the agreement, and not move toward a withdrawal from NAFTA.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 29 - May 3 in case they were missed.
CBP's proposed ruling revocation on garments with 50/50 blends of fiber (see 1904050037) seems to indicate a big shift in the way the agency classifies garments and other finished textile goods, according to industry experts. The proposal is a "significant change in policy," Sandler Travis lawyer Elise Shibles said in a May 2 email. The proposal "could significantly impact a wide range of imported goods, including their duty rates, qualification for free trade agreements, and sourcing supply chains," she and trade consultant Tom Gould said in a post on the firm's website.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, speaking about the meeting of top Democrats at the White House April 30, said that they told the president "we're not there yet" on the new NAFTA, and added " that enforcement will be an important part of the consideration."
If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn't bring the new NAFTA to a vote, NAFTA could stay in place, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said at a conference April 30. Mulvaney dismissed the Democrats' argument that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement could be amended in discrete ways to satisfy their complaints before going to a vote. Interviewer Maria Bartiromo pointed out that Democrats say "I'm not signing it in its current form."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 22-26 in case they were missed.
Reforms of Mexico's labor laws passed its Senate overwhelmingly April 29, and that vote was hailed by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "These reforms will greatly improve Mexico's system of labor justice and are exactly what labor leaders in the United States and Mexico have sought for decades. As we move forward with the ratification of USMCA, the Trump Administration will work closely with members of the United States Congress and the Mexican government to ensure these reforms are implemented and enforced," his office said in a statement the evening of April 29.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal April 28 that reiterated his often-expressed view that without the end of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the new NAFTA will not be ratified. He wrote: "If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead. There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place." Mexico and Canada have placed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, including agriculture, and Grassley said the Mexican tariffs on pork have lowered the value of each hog by $12.
The director of the White House's Council of Economic Advisors, Larry Kudlow, said "a lot of headway" is being made in trade negotiations with China, and that there's discussion of another trip to continue in-person negotiations. "We're not there yet, but we've made a heck of a lot of progress," he said at a National Press Club luncheon April 23. "I don't want to make a prediction or a forecast" on reaching a resolution, he said. "Will we succeed? I don't know. We're a heck of a lot closer than we were. Sometimes it goes hot and cold."
Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Martha Barcena, speaking April 22 at the Georgetown Law School conference on U.S. ratification of the new NAFTA, implored: "We need USMCA not to be taken as a political hostage. We need USMCA to be taken in its own merits." She also said, "We should not let politics stand in the way of free trade that has yielded benefits for both of our societies."