On January 29, 2019, President Donald Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and in remarks at the White House stated that the agreement is “the largest, fairest, most balanced, and modern trade agreement ever achieved.” He added that the agreement is “a colossal victory for our farmers, ranchers, energy workers, factory workers, and American

The U.S. Senate has approved by a vote of 89 to 10 the required implementing legislation for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). After months of negotiations by Democrats in the House of Representatives with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (see Trump and Trade Updates of December 10, 2019 and December 16, 2019), H.R. 5430 was

After reaching agreement with congressional Democrats on the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) (see Trump and Trade Update of December 10, 2019), the Trump administration has forwarded to the Senate Finance Committee the necessary legislative text to implement the agreement. The House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways & Means will take up consideration of

President Donald Trump has confirmed via Twitter that the United States and China have agreed to a “Phase One Deal.” In this agreement, China will reportedly purchase $200 billion of U.S. products and services over the next two years, including an apparent agreement to purchase $40-50 billion of agricultural goods. In addition, China has agreed

On October 11, 2019, in remarks to the press, President Donald Trump announced that the United States and China’s trade negotiators had “agreed in principle” to address issues involving intellectual property, financial services and agricultural sales between the two countries. In this “phase one” agreement, China agreed to purchase between $40 billion to $50

On October 7, 2019, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the Ambassador of Japan to the United States Shinsuke J. Sugiyama signed the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement. The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement will eliminate or reduce tariffs on certain agricultural and industrial products to enhance bilateral trade and includes numerous

In what has been called a “mini-trade deal” or the “first stage” of a broader trade agreement, the United States and Japan have reached agreement in several areas of trade between the countries involving market access, reduced tariffs and digital trade. President Donald Trump announced that Japan will be liberalizing market access for certain U.S.

On June 19, 2019, Mexico became the first of the three involved countries to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA), which is intended to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In a nearly unanimous vote, Mexico’s Senate approved the trade agreement. The bill will now be sent to the Mexican executive branch for

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has released its report assessing the likely impact of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the U.S. economy as a whole and on specific industry sectors and the interests of U.S. consumers. The report, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and Specific Industry Sectors (Investigation No. TPA-105-003, USITC Publication 4889, April 2019), was prepared at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and required by the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015.

In preparing its report, the USITC investigated the USMCA’s expected impact on the U.S. gross domestic product; exports and imports; aggregate employment and employment opportunities; and the production, employment and competitive position of industries likely to be significantly affected by the agreement. On its website, the USITC listed these main findings:

  • The elements of the USMCA that would have the most significant effects on the U.S. economy are: (1) provisions that reduce policy uncertainty about digital trade; and (2) certain new rules of origin applicable to the automotive sector. The report also notes that for many industry sectors, particularly services industries, the USMCA’s new international data transfer provisions should be of interest, including provisions that largely prohibit forced localization of computing facilities and restrictions on cross-border data flows.
  • Because NAFTA has already eliminated duties on most qualifying goods and significantly reduced nontariff measures, the USMCA’s emphasis is on reducing remaining nontariff measures on trade and the U.S. economy; addressing other issues that affect trade, such as workers’ rights; harmonizing regulations from country to country; and deterring certain potential future trade and investment barriers.
  • The USMCA would strengthen and add complexity to the rules of origin requirements in the automotive sector by increasing regional value content (RVC) requirements. The USMCA’s requirements on this matter are estimated to increase U.S. production of automotive parts and employment in the sector but also to lead to a small increase in the prices and small decrease in the consumption of vehicles in the United States.
  • The USMCA would establish commitments to open flows of data, which would positively impact a wide range of industries that rely on international data transfers. The agreement would reduce the scope of the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, a change that, based on modeling results, would reduce U.S. investment in Mexico and would lead to a small increase in U.S. investment at home and output in the manufacturing and mining sectors.
  • Labor standards and rights would be strengthened, if enforced under the USMCA, including those related to collective bargaining in Mexico, which would promote higher wages and better labor conditions in that country.
  • New intellectual property rights provisions would increase protections for U.S. firms that rely on intellectual property.

Continue Reading U.S. International Trade Commission Releases Report on the Likely Impact of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement