Mexico

Wednesday March 7, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 7, 2018

Republicans confront Trump over steel tariffs, fearing trade war

In a remarkably public confrontation, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican allies of President Donald Trump pleaded with him Monday to back away from his threatened international tariffs, which they fear could spark a dangerous trade war.

March 3, 2018

Trump retorted: “We’re not backing down.”

The president said U.S. neighbours Canada and Mexico would not be spared from his plans for special import taxes on steel and aluminum, but he held out the possibility of later exempting the longstanding friends if they agree to better terms for the U.S. in talks aimed at revising the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“We’ve had a very bad deal with Mexico; we’ve had a very bad deal with Canada. It’s called NAFTA,” he declared.

October 11, 2017

Trump spoke shortly after a spokesperson for Ryan, a Trump ally, said the Republican leader was “extremely worried” that the proposed tariffs would set off a trade war and urged the White House “to not advance with this plan.”

Likewise, Republican leaders of the House ways and means committee circulated a letter opposing Trump’s plan, and Republican congressional leaders suggested they may attempt to prevent the tariffs if the president moves forward.

August 24, 2017

Trump’s pledge to implement tariffs of 25 per cent on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum imports has roiled financial markets, angered foreign allies and created unusual alliances for a president who blasted unfavourable trade deals during his 2016 campaign.

Union leaders and Democratic lawmakers from Rust Belt states have praised the planned tariffs, joining with advocates within the administration including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Wednesday January 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 24, 2018

How the TPP deal injects a new dynamic at NAFTA talks

Canada’s decision to sign onto a major multinational trade agreement without the United States added a dramatic new wrinkle to the NAFTA process Tuesday just as negotiators gathered for a crucial bargaining round.

January 12, 2018

The new Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement brings Canada into a new, sprawling trading bloc with standards not always obviously compatible with the goals of its superpower next-door neighbour.

It allows more content into automobiles from non-free-trade partners like China — at the very moment that the United States is trying to achieve the exact opposite in NAFTA, with tougher rules to keep out Chinese and other Asian parts.

Both supporters and detractors of the TPP pact predicted that this major liberalization of trade in auto parts with Asia will wind up at the NAFTA table somehow.

A Canadian auto-parts lobby group delivered a scathing reaction.

November 14, 2017

Flavio Volpe of Canada’s Auto Parts Manufacturers’ Association said the TPP agreement paves the way for more Chinese content in Canadian cars, at the moment Canada’s most important customer, the U.S., has made clear its goal of reducing Chinese imports.

He said it’s especially problematic in the midst of sensitive NAFTA negotiations.

“This could not be a dumber move at a more important time,” Volpe said in an interview. (Source: CTV) 

 

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Friday January 12, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 12, 2018

Canada preparing for possibility Trump will pull out of NAFTA: sources

The Canadian government is actively preparing for the possibility U.S. President Donald Trump could soon signal his intent to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, Liberal government sources told CBC News.

Despite those preparations for a possible pullout, Canada will stay at the negotiation table even if Trump makes that call, those sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Canada is still optimistic there could still be some sort of positive resolution to these fractious trade talks, the sources said, and will continue to pursue its aggressive outreach plans in the U.S., which include meetings with U.S. state governors and lawmakers in Washington.

The next round of NAFTA talks — the sixth so far — will be held in Montreal from Jan. 23 to 28.

Reuters reported earlier Wednesday that Canada is “increasingly convinced” Trump will abandon renegotiation talks and announce he is initiating the withdrawal process. A party’s withdrawal takes effect six months after it provides written notice to the other member countries.

In response to the Reuters story, the White House said “there has been no change in the President’s position on NAFTA,” which offered little clarity as Trump has routinely threatened to walk away if he cannot extract concessions from the other two trade partners. (Source: CBC) 

 

Thursday November 23, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 23, 2017

U.S. NAFTA auto proposal faces criticism from Canada and Mexico 

The United States negotiating team found itself squeezed at home and abroad during NAFTA talks on Monday, with various actors from Canada, Mexico and within the U.S. pressing it to reconsider demands called unworkable and unworthy of serious bargaining.

November 14, 2017

The Canadian and Mexican governments have refused to produce a counterproposal at the current round of talks on auto policy and are instead delivering a presentation on the self-inflicted damage they claim it would wreak upon America.

Their case was bolstered within the U.S. Senate.

A major auto association told a hearing that the current proposal could induce companies to leave this continent and simply pay import tariffs. This was on the same day that 18 U.S. senators sent a letter demanding the administration conduct an economic analysis before making any changes to NAFTA.

August 24, 2017

The U.S. stunned its partners by demanding that car companies quickly transform their supply chains to boost North American content; ensure half of a car’s parts come from the U.S.; use a new, stricter formula for calculating the origins of a car’s components; and do it all within a year.

“No vehicle produced today could meet such an onerous standard,” the Senate hearing was told by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

“This proposal is unprecedented and would have significant ramifications on our industry and the U.S. economy, as a whole.”

The U.S. negotiating team is urging people to tone down the rhetoric.

August 17, 2017

It apparently views such proposals as a starting point. An American source familiar with the talks pointed to evidence of the U.S. willingness to negotiate in good faith: the very broadly phrased list of American objectives published online last week.

In a few cases, that list includes specific numbers — like the demand that Canada relax its duties on online purchases by $780. In the case of automobiles, though, there are no numbers — just a reference to a desire for U.S. content in cars.

June 29, 2016

The source said this is normal in negotiating. But what’s less normal, the source said, is the public rhetoric by the Canadian side, with talk of red-lines and non-starters that will make it harder to advance negotiations.

The Canadians adopted a deliberate strategy at this round of proposing nothing on the hardest issues.

Instead, they will deliver a presentation and demand details. Along with Mexico, Canada will press the American side for clarity on how the auto proposal would work, with the subtext of that conversation being their belief that the proposal would not, in fact, work at all. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

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Tuesday July 17, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 17, 2017

Trump administration poised to reveal goals for NAFTA talks

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is expected to release today his negotiating objectives ahead of talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement next month.

April 20, 2017

The goals for the renegotiation, as well as the Trump administration’s rationale for how these objectives will lead to an agreement beneficial to the U.S., must be published on the USTR website, as required by Congress in accordance with the trade promotion authority granted to the White House for renegotiating a standing agreement like this.

Formal talks to revise NAFTA are expected to start next month. Such objectives must be published 30 days in advance.

The Canadian government is not required to publish its negotiating objectives ahead of the formal talks, expected to start on or shortly after Aug. 17. The location for these talks has not been finalized yet.

While Canada has been consulting formally and informally — an official consultation period expires Tuesday — politicians, officials and negotiators have been talking to affected industries for weeks to prepare Canada’s bargaining positions.

June 2, 2017

They’re expected to continue to do so throughout the process, although Parliament does not require the kind of transparency Congress does.

“The other NAFTA parties — Canada and Mexico … their position has been: the U.S. wanted to re-open this and modernize it. We’re just coming along,” International trade lawyer Dan Ujczo told CBC News last week. “So I think in some ways the U.S. is going to set the agenda.”

“If it comes out really short and sweet with a very narrow set of lists, that’s indicating that they want to get this done as quick as possible,” he said. But if it isn’t a deep dive, Ujczo expects Congress to demand more specifics. (Source: CBC News) 

 

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