Canada may pursue an increase in its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as part of an effort to convince President Donald Trump to end the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said in a March 29 report. Mexico too is said to be considering an expansion to its retaliatory tariffs (see 1903140025). Additional tariffs on the U.S. are hoped to push Trump toward lifting the metals tariffs as part of U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade deal, the CBC reported.
After 25 Republican House members met with President Donald Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to talk about how to ratify the new NAFTA, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., said on Fox Business News March 26 that he thinks Congress can do it before the August recess.
The U.S. and Brazil will initiate a mutual recognition agreement for trusted trader programs between the two countries at the instructions of President Donald Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, the White House said in a March 19 announcement. An MRA "will reduce costs for American and Brazilian companies," it said. Brazil will also "implement a tariff rate quota, allowing for the annual importation of 750 thousand tons of American wheat at zero rate," the White House said. The U.S. will also "expeditiously schedule a technical visit" by the Food Safety and Inspection Service "to audit Brazil’s raw beef inspection system, as soon as it is satisfied with Brazil’s food safety documentation," the White House said. "Commensurate with its status as a global leader, President Bolsonaro agreed that Brazil will begin to forgo special and differential treatment in World Trade Organization negotiations, in line with the United States proposal," the White House said.
As long as the trade talks are limited to industrial goods -- which does include fisheries under World Trade Organization rules -- European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said she thinks the talks could conclude before the current commission leaves office in late October. Malmstrom was visiting Washington to talk to her counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and to give a speech at the Georgetown Law International Update.
A deal is shaping up with China that would lift most of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The article cautioned it could still fall apart over enforcement, or over political pressures on either side that the deal is too favorable to the other country. President Donald Trump tweeted that "I have asked China to immediately remove all Tariffs on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, etc.) based on the fact that we are moving along nicely with Trade discussions.... and I did not increase their second traunch [sic] of Tariffs to 25% on March 1st. This is very important for our great farmers - and me!"