Trade Cases
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USMCA Implementation Not Likely Before July
Written by Sandy Williams
April 9, 2020
Implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the replacement for NAFTA, is now likely to occur July 1, possibly with portions of the agreement subject to a transition period.
Canada and Mexico have completed their entry-into-force notifications and the U.S. is expected to submit its notice soon. Procedure rules dictate that the agreement will go into effect three months after the last country submits its notification. The July 1 date is a month later than the Trump administration had hoped, but attempts at moving the date to June 1 were met with pushback from concerned parties.
Auto industry groups have requested more time to comply with the new rules-of-origin measures in the USMCA. The COVID-19 crisis has complicated the issue by causing the shutdown of automotive plants in North America as well as refocusing government attention from the agreement to fighting the pandemic.
The president of the Mexican auto industry says that it will take more than 90 days to make supply chain adaptations to meet the new origin requirements. Director Fausto Cuevas has asked for rules-of-origin implementation to be delayed until January 2021.
Mexican Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Luz María de la Mora said he could see a scenario where the agreement enters into force with a transition period allowed for the automotive sector.
“We have put this issue on the table many times, but unfortunately this is not a Mexican decision. This is a trilateral decision,” said de la Mora. “If there were to be flexibility on the part of the U.S. and Canada, we’re more than happy to do that.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley have urged the U.S. Trade Representative to delay the entry-into-force.
“We, a lot of people on my committee, see that [early date] as being a major problem, particularly for the supply chain for automobiles, and we’re asking for a later starting date,” Grassley told reporters on a conference call. “And I think that Lighthizer believes he doesn’t have leverage if he delays it, particularly on agriculture…. [But] we haven’t heard those sorts of concerns from agriculture.”
During a webinar on Monday focusing on trade during the COVID-19 emergency, Dingell said a delay of USMCA is necessary.
“We are — and I can’t believe that I myself am saying this — probably going to have to postpone some of the implementation of the NAFTA 2.0 because we have devastated the supplier base, but we can’t do it for a long period of time,” she said.
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Sandy Williams
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Leibowitz: The consequences of a new barrage of trade cases on coated steel
Domestic steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) union filed a barrage of trade cases last week. This is hardly news. Ever since the Commerce Department ruled that Vietnam is still treated as a nonmarket economy (NME) for antidumping purposes, many in the business expected new cases on the product that Vietnam excels at—“corrosion-resistant steel.” Nor is it a surprise that these cases roped in nine countries in addition to Vietnam: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. All these countries rank in the top ten exporters of corrosion-resistant steel to the United States. These petitions are a broadside against coated flat-rolled steel imports.
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Coated trade case alleges hefty dumping margins
Domestic mills have alleged substantial dumping margins in the trade case targeting imports of corrosion-resistant steel.
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US mills file sprawling trade case against coated imports from 10 nations
US mills have filed or soon will file a sprawling trade petition against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 countries. The petition seeks anti-dumping margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, and South Africa. It also seeks countervailing duty margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam. That’s according documents dated Sept. 5 and addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and International Trade Commission (ITC) Secretary Lisa Barton.
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Steel Summit 2024: Trade issues abound ahead of election
Trade is always front and center in an election year. And 2024 is no different. There is no shortage of issues, with questions like the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, potential cracks in the USMCA, and Chinese overcapacity dominating the headlines. But how do you distinguish between issues that might just last until November, and what are the crucial questions that could affect your business for years to come?
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US senators urge reduction to S. Korean OCTG quota
https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/sherrod-brown-casey-fetterman-biden-administration-level-playing-field-american-octg-industry