Cabinet-level officials in both Mexico and Canada are furiously lobbying U.S. senators to change an electric vehicle incentive in the Build Back Better bill, so that it does not discriminate against cars built in their countries. As passed by the House, the incentive gives larger credits for cars built in the U.S. with U.S. batteries and with at least 50% U.S. content; and in 2027, only cars assembled in the U.S. would be eligible for the purchase credit.

The newly formed Coalition for Economic Partnerships in the Americas does not explicitly say that the textile rules of origin in CAFTA-DR need reform, though it calls on the administration "to do what previous administrations ignored: to structure trade to support investment in the United States and our allies in Central America. In order for our economy to thrive, we must eliminate the bureaucratic red tape that hinders production and investment in the region."

Argentina recently updated its authorized economic operator program to allow importers, exporters, customs brokers and other trade operators to join the program electronically, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Dec. 1. The program, which is now in line with World Customs Organization parameters, provides certain traders with benefits during customs procedures, inspections and other port and shipping activities.

U.S. pork exports to Mexico rebounded this year and are expected to continue improving in 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Nov. 19. Mexico was the top international destination for U.S. pork in the second quarter of 2021, USDA said, adding that shipments reached record highs in August and September. The turnaround comes after several years of lagging pork exports to Mexico, partly caused by Mexican retaliatory duties in response to the U.S.’s Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. Although the U.S. repealed its tariffs in 2019, recovery for the U.S. pork industry was slow due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which “quickly began to wreak havoc and weigh on pork shipments to Mexico,” USDA said. The agency said pent-up consumer demand, spilling over into next year, “should allow U.S. exports to return to the rising trend seen before the pandemic.”

For the first time, U.S. rice exporters didn’t fill Colombia’s tariff rate quota this past year, due to lower domestic prices in Colombia and increased competition from South American exporters, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Nov. 18. U.S. rice exports to Colombia have dropped to just $5 million worth from January through September, USDA said, which was “significantly lower” than past years. Not only did rice production reach record levels in Colombia this past year, but other countries recently obtained duty-free access to the market after signing free trade deals with Colombia, USDA said. The agency expects “large carryover stocks” of rice to continue to “dampen'' Colombia's import demand for U.S. rice. “Even though the current 2021/22 USDA forecast assumes that Colombian imports will pick up pace towards the end of the marketing year, prospects for U.S. sales this year remain highly uncertain,” USDA said.

The Canada Border Services Agency has seized one shipment of goods due to forced labor concerns as of Nov. 15, a CBSA spokesperson said, confirming a recent report in The Globe and Mail. "The goods were declared as women’s and children’s clothing from China" and "the shipment was intercepted in the Quebec region," the spokesperson said. "CBSA’s officers have the authority to make tariff classification decisions on imported goods, based on an analysis of supporting evidence" and the shipment was classified in tariff number 9897.00.00 as goods made from forced labor, the spokesperson said. "Tariff classification determinations are made on a case-by-case basis for each importation intercepted."

Mexico recently published a phytosanitary requirement sheet for U.S. potato imports, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Nov. 10. The report includes a translation of the sheet, which doesn’t allow “for immediate importation of U.S. potatoes to the entirety of Mexico,” USDA said. The sheet includes information on potato shipping compliance requirements, labeling, authorized Mexican entry points and more.

The Federal Trade Commission will vote at a Nov. 18 open meeting on whether to issue orders to large retailers and consumer goods suppliers to study the competition impact of supply chain disruptions, the agency said Nov. 10. The FTC Act Section 6(b) study would “focus on why these disruptions occur, whether they are leading to specific bottlenecks, shortages, anticompetitive practices, or contributing to rising consumer prices.”

Hurricane Ida’s damage to port facilities in New Orleans has caused “significant” delays to exports of feed grains to Costa Rica, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Nov. 8. Animal operators have had to ration their feed due to shortages of corn and soybeans in Costa Rica, where the poultry, pork and dairy sectors “rely almost exclusively” on U.S. suppliers, USDA said. The agency also said the shortage forced Costa Rica to shut down its only soybean crushing mill for weeks in October. Costa Rican importers expect market conditions to return to normal by mid-November.

Canada recently made preliminary affirmative determinations in its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of mainland Chinese container chassis, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Nov. 2. Canada will preliminarily assess both AD and CV duties for chassis classified under Harmonized System codes 8716.39.3090, 8706.00.9090, 8716.39.9090, 8716.40.0000, 8716.80.2090, 8716.90.3000, 8716.90.9910 and 8716.90.9990. Chassis from mainland China will be subject to a 151.8% combined duty rate, while chassis from Dongguan CIMC Vehicle Co. Ltd. will be subject to a 59.1% combined duty rate. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal will hold a Jan. 17 hearing to determine whether the dumping and subsidization of Chinese chassis “has caused injury or retardation or is threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry,” HKTDC said, and a final determination is expected in February.