The Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations issued a circular April 22 to clarify value-added tax treatment in Mexico for patent medicines. Based on a review of the applicable laws and regulations prompted by confusion among some CAAAREM members, the association said that imports of merchandise considered by tax and health legislation to be patent medicines are eligible for a zero percent VAT rate. Merchandise classifiable in Chapter 30 of the Mexican tariff schedule, that are covered by Article 7 of the Mexican VAT regulations, have a VAT rate of zero percent at the time they are imported into Mexican territory, said the circular, which was posted by the trade consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior.

Mexico recently amended its foreign trade regulations to add new tariff subheadings to its lists of products subject to import and export permitting and compliance with product standards, in a notice published in the April 18 Diario Oficial. The new subheadings, which mostly cover fibers, textiles, apparel and footwear of tariff schedule chapters 53-64, include those added in a notice amending the Mexican tariff schedule issued April 10, according to a circular issued by the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations April 23 that was posted by the trade consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior. The new notice takes effect May 6, though import automatic permits for products of any subheadings that were eliminated in the notice will remain in effect for the duration of the permit's original validity, and any import declarations related to such permits should include the original subheading listed on the permit, CAAAREM said.

There may be a delay in the April 24 daily notices "due to the high volume of transactions processed this past holiday weekend," the Canada Border Services Agency said in an April 23 email.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

The International Trade Commission estimated that by the sixth year after the new NAFTA's ratification, the U.S. economy would have 176,000 more jobs than it would have without the new revised trade deal. That's a 0.12 percent increase compared to the status quo.

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 17 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The Canadian government should increase its role in getting China to resume imports of canola, the Canola Council of Canada said in an April 17 news release. "As days have turned into weeks and a Canadian delegation has not yet been accepted by China, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) is calling on the Government of Canada to consider all available options to resume seed trade," the group said. "While technical discussions are still required, continued delay shows that more options need to be considered."

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows: