The importance and size of the Mexico-U.S. trading relationship does not receive enough recognition in the U.S., Mexico's outgoing ambassador to the U.S., Martha Barcena, said Feb. 5 during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mexico is the U.S.'s no. 1 trading partner, she said, and the economies are inexorably linked, with the automobile supply chain as just one example of it. One piece of a car will cross the border an average of seven times before final assembly, she said.
Argentina and Canada recently made antidumping and countervailing duty determinations on products from China, according to a Jan. 27 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Argentina ended its antidumping investigation on lawn mowers and weeders from China after finding a “lack of sufficient domestic industry support,” the HKTDC said. Canada determined that it will impose antidumping and countervailing duties on certain mainland Chinese decorative and other non‑structural plywood. Canada also began “re-investigations of the normal values and export prices” of certain carbon steel fasteners originating in or exported from China by Qifeng Precision Industry SCI‑TECH Corp. and Jiaxing-based Robertson Inc., the HKTDC said.
Honduras set a 118,800 metric ton import quota for certain rice for 2021 in response to the impacts of hurricanes Eta and Iota on local rice production, according to a Jan. 29 U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report. The country began issuing import licenses last month, USDA said, and they will be valid until Dec. 31. USDA said U.S. rice exporters should contact their clients in Honduras to determine what volume of rice imports they have been allocated.
Mexico announced changes to its Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program to offer customs-related benefits for maquiladora factories. One of the largest changes allows tariff relief for a period of 36 months for items imported temporarily into Mexico or with regard to maquiladora factories, merchandise transferred to companies not operating under the IMMEX (Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicio de Exportación) regime, KPMG said in an alert Feb. 2. Mexico also added two additional digits to its commercial identification numbers to exert more statistical control over its import and export transactions, along with eliminating certain low-volume tariff items and subheadings -- changes made effective at the end of 2020. Other changes include the possibility of canceling value-added tax certifications if companies did not timely submit their renewal request at the end of 2020. Also, firms must now evaluate the implications of “subcontracted” personnel for VAT certification purposes, as the information from suppliers must be updated, due to labor reforms in USMCA.
The U.S. has not publicly released all the companies that have applied for an extended period to get their North American-made vehicles into compliance with the tighter rules of origin, but both Canada and Mexico have published the list of 12 companies that have been approved. Since all three countries must approve alternative staging regimes, it follows that these companies' transition plans are cleared by the U.S., as well. The press office of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is in transition with a change in administrations.