Mara Lee

Express shippers are troubled by a footnote that suggests the U.S. could lower its de minimis rate for NAFTA partners (see 1811060010) and ask that it be removed, said Michael Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America, during a Nov. 15 U.S. International Trade Commission hearing. Mullen also said the fact that the taxes and duties levels are separate means the $40 Canadian and $50 for Mexico will be the operative de minimis amounts. That Canadian level "is among the lowest in the world," Mullen said, adding that Mexico already offers simplified duties and taxes above $50 and $117, so the administration needs to make sure the pact does not make things worse.

The U.S. International Trade Commission, hosting lobbyists on the new NAFTA for a second day Nov. 16, tried to sort out whose perspective was most germane on the trade pact's impact, as producers and customers, manufacturers and importers and even producers and producers disagreed about the policy impact of what the U.S. trade representative did -- or didn't do -- in the negotiations.

Two House Democrats said NAFTA led to outsourcing to Mexico, and that they would not support a rewritten version of the trade deal unless it eliminates the incentives for outsourcing jobs by U.S. companies. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., ranking member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, said "the jury is still out as to whether this deal meets my standard for a better deal for American workers."

Determining how the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will change the economics of auto and auto parts manufacturing in America is critical for the U.S. International Trade Commission, which is responsible for estimating the economic effects of the pact. Of all the exports from the U.S. to its NAFTA partners -- $419 billion in 2015 -- $67 billion is automotive, according to the Center for Automotive Research. In the most recent data, the U.S. imported more than $58 billion in new vehicles from Mexico and Canada through the first eight months of 2018, and exported more than $18 billion new vehicles to those countries, according to the International Trade Administration.

When an agriculture shipment is held up at the border, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement says a country must let the shipper know what the problem is within five calendar days. That's better than the deadline under the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Randy Gordon, CEO of the North American Export Grain Association, pointed to that as an example of the reduction in non-tariff barriers that the new pact would bring that would help agriculture interests. He also praised the ways the pact addresses sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and said the countries should be able to resolve conflicts more quickly as a result.

The changes to the Section 232 aluminum exclusion process described in an interim final rule from the Commerce Department have not yet improved the process, The Aluminum Association said in its comments submitted Nov. 13 on that interim final rule. Decisions have only been made on about 20 percent of the published exclusion requests, and there are still requests published six months ago that haven't gotten an answer. "While the number of requests, objections, rebuttals and sur-rebuttals in the aluminum docket are far lower than the steel docket, the requests -- as well as objections and rebuttals -- are still difficult to monitor" because there's no adequate tracking system. Users can't search on HTS code, country of origin or the type of alloys -- they have to open every single file, the trade group noted.

Americans and Canadians are talking about ending U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and the Canadian countermeasures that followed, but Canadian Deputy Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said much remains uncertain. "Whether or not that will come to a successful conclusion before the signing is something I cannot predict," said Hillman, a veteran trade negotiator sent to Washington specifically for the NAFTA renegotiation. She couldn't say how the resolution would come about, and if some kind of cap on Canadian exports of those metals would be part of it.

Current House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., has already asked colleagues for support in his staying on as chairman when the Democrats take the majority in the chamber in January (see 1811080038), but Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis. is also a strong contender, one senior Ways and Means Committee Democrat said. Committee members with the most seniority can bid on a subcommittee post; both Pascrell and Kind started at the same time, which means coin flips were used to determine who was most senior within a class. By that standard, Kind is more senior.

The United Kingdom has reached a draft agreement on how it can leave the European Union, according to a statement from Prime Minister Theresa May's office, reports said, and the British Cabinet will evaluate it on Nov. 14. May, who spoke Nov. 12 on "the new relationship we will forge with our European allies as we leave the European Union," said she was not compromising on what the Brexit voters asked. "Any deal must ensure we take back control of our laws, borders and money. It must secure the ability to strike new trade deals around the world," she said, according to a transcript of the speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London.

The U.S., China, Brazil, Australia, Canada and others complained that the European Union's proposal to adjust its tariff rate quotas on agricultural and industrial goods after Brexit will reduce market access for their exporters. They talked about the problem at a World Trade Organization Council for Trade in Goods meeting Nov. 12, according to a Geneva trade official. The EU proposal affects 196 individual concessions covering more than 365 tariff lines, members asserted in a joint communication, which is not public.