Trade Cases

Leibowitz on Trade: USMCA to Take Effect July 1

Written by Lewis Leibowitz

April 30, 2020

Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington:

The USMCA will take effect on July 1 of this year, despite calls to push out its implementation due to the economic crisis from the coronavirus. USMCA repeals and replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement, which took effect in 1994. USMCA continues duty-free trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States. It is similar to NAFTA in many ways. Among the more significant changes are the inclusion of e-commerce and digital trade, which did not really exist in 1994, and the automotive rules of origin, requiring a higher “regional value content” for vehicles to get duty-free entry into the three countries. The old requirement was 62.5 percent of value, and the new standard is 75 percent. The products that count toward the regional value content changed, and the new standard will be phased in over four years. In addition, labor value will be counted toward regional value content. By the fifth year of the agreement, 40 percent of the labor value of passenger cars and 45 percent of trucks must use labor earning at least $16 per hour.

For steel and aluminum businesses, the automotive rules have added significance. A new rule requires that at least 70 percent of steel and aluminum content must originate in North America, and that to be “North American” it must be “melted and poured” in North America. This will affect trade patterns to the advantage of North American steel producers of semifinished products, and away from rerollers.

A key mission of USMCA was to steer manufacturing back to the United States. Whether it accomplishes that will be watched carefully. Some argue that car companies may elect to drop out of NAFTA and pay the 2.5 percent duty on cars imported from Canada and Mexico. It may be less costly for some companies to do that than to make the changes needed to comply with the new USMCA rules. Others argue the other way.

The USMCA was a key goal for the Trump administration, and achieving it, with the backing of Democrats in Congress and organized labor, was a major achievement.

The Law Office of Lewis E. Leibowitz
1400 16th Street, N.W.
Suite 350
Washington, D.C. 20036

Phone: (202) 776-1142
Fax: (202) 861-2924
Cell: (202) 250-1551

Lewis Leibowitz, SMU Contributor

Lewis Leibowitz

Lewis Leibowitz, owner of the Law Office of Lewis E. Leibowitz, practices in the areas of international trade law, customs law, and international commercial transactions. He represents clients before all federal courts and agencies dealing with international trade matters. Mr. Leibowitz advises and assists clients in diverse matters including trade remedies, customs, foreign-trade zones and free trade agreements, trade negotiations, and related matters. He can be reached at lewis.leibowitz@lellawoffice.com.

Read more from Lewis Leibowitz

Latest in Trade Cases

Leibowitz: Trump 2.0 signals Cold War 2.0 trade and China policies

China is one of the elephants in the room as the transition to Trump 2.0 continues. While the people and policies are still being formulated, it’s possible to detect a strategy for the new Trump administration. I think there are two imperative issues that the new administration needs to balance. The Trump strategy will, I believe, follow the following points. First, trade is one of the issues that got President Trump elected in 2016 and 2024—it nearly got him elected in 2020, save for the pandemic. If President Trump had won in 2020, I might be writing chronicles about the end of his eight years in the White House now instead of projecting what the next Trump administration would accomplish or break. Oh, well—that’s life. Trade will necessarily be a key feature of relations with China for the next four years.