After a panel report found Mexico's plans to replace GMO corn over time in industrial food and animal feed -- and its ban on genetically modified white corn -- violate its USMCA commitments, the Mexican government said it will honor the result.
A dispute panel ruled that Mexico's ban on genetically modified white corn, along with its intention to phase out GMO yellow corn for industrial foods and animal feed, violate the NAFTA successor agreement, because they "are not based on relevant international standards, guidelines or recommendations, or on an assessment, as appropriate to the circumstances, of the risk to human, animal, or plant life or health," and Mexico didn't conduct its own documented risk assessment, or base the decree on science.
The Canadian government intends to create a new framework for eradicating forced labor from supply chains, its minister of export promotion, international trade and economic development, Mary Ng, said in a Dec. 18 response statement. The proposed legislation would require government entities and businesses "to scrutinize their international supply chains for risks to fundamental labour rights and take action to resolve these risks," and, "a new oversight agency will be created to ensure ongoing compliance."
The Federal Maritime Commission is ending one of its two investigations into new Canadian rules that were thought to have imposed unfair burdens on U.S. vessels, making the announcement after Canada granted exemptions for six ships and took other steps to “temporarily” resolve the issue. The FMC said it’s still moving forward with a separate, broader investigation into whether the Canadian regulations unfairly affect all U.S.-flagged Great Lakes vessels.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has invited Costa Rica to join the pact, Canada said in a statement released Nov. 30. At the eighth CPTPP Commission meeting in Vancouver, the commission agreed to begin the accession process, originally requested by Costa Rica in 2022, noting the Central American country's "history as a supporter of the rules-based trading system, its experience with high-standard trade and investment rules, and [its] affirmation of its intention to comply with the obligations of the CPTPP." The accession process begins with the formation of an Accession Working Group, which will establish a timeline for Costa Rica's membership.
USDA is accepting applications from exporters for its upcoming trade mission to Guatemala, the agency's Foreign Agricultural Service said last week. The March 3-7 trade mission will feature meetings with Central American importers, market briefings on the region, site visits and opportunities to speak with USDA officials.
A new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that arms trafficking in Latin America is increasingly connected to the U.S. firearms industry, including through illegal and legal exports.
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they take steps to address drugs and migrants crossing the border, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that she might retaliate with her own set of trade restrictions.
More than 40 members of Congress are asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to push back against a Colombian plan to investigate U.S. corn subsidies. The letter, led by Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Reps. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich., noted that Colombia found that U.S. milk powder exports were subsidized to the extent that countervailing duties were warranted, and "imposed punitive tariffs."
New steel import requirements took effect Nov. 5 under Canada’s Steel Import Monitoring Program, which requires Canadian importers to provide information on the country of melt and pour (COM) of certain steel products at the time of importation (see 2408260042). A notice published last week sets import requirements under Canada’s General Import Permit No. 80 for Carbon Steel and General Import Permit No. 81 for Specialty Steel Products, which will help Canada monitor steel and “facilitate the collection of import data.” Under the program, importers may also be required to give documents or other records to Global Affairs Canada to allow the agency to pinpoint “any errors in import data” and find “the source of any inconsistencies in a targeted manner.”