Even though companies that make cars in North America are going to have to change sourcing to meet stricter rules of origin under USMCA, the director of international public policy for Toyota and the head of Canada's auto parts trade group say they expect carmakers to do so to keep the tariff benefits. Toyota's Leila Afas noted that automakers don't have to comply with trade agreements to import, but said, “I believe many will choose to comply with USMCA.” Afas and others discussed USMCA issues during an Oct. 14 webinar hosted by Rice University.
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 14 (some may also be given separate headlines):
Canada suspended exports of certain military items to Turkey while Canada investigates whether its technologies are being used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the country is “concerned by the ongoing conflict” and the possibility of Canadian military technologies being used in the region. “In line with Canada’s robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey, so as to allow time to further assess the situation,” Champagne said in an Oct. 5 statement.
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 12 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 9 (some may also be given separate headlines):
Mexico recently revised its standard labeling requirements for prepackaged food and non-alcoholic beverage imports, KPMG said in an Oct. 7 post. The changes, which took effect Oct. 1, require food and beverage importers to include certain information on the product label, such as added sugar, saturated fats and sodium. Prepackaged products that contain sweeteners must not have labels with “characters, animations, cartoons, celebrities, athletes, pets or interactive elements that are aimed at children,” KPMG said. The packaging must also not “promote or encourage” consuming products with “high caloric content.” Traders wishing to submit challenges or “suspension requests” relating to the new requirements must file an action by Nov. 17.
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 7 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 5 (some may also be given separate headlines):
FDA has signed an agreement to expand its food safety collaboration with its Mexican regulatory counterparts, the agency announced Oct. 5. The “statement of intent” signed by FDA and the Mexican National Service of Agro-Alimentary Public Health Safety and Quality (SENASICA) and Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) “embraces the use of new and emerging technologies to strengthen the Participants’ respective technical and predictive capabilities; leverages food safety programs at SENASICA and COFEPRIS and their work with local industry; and further enhances collaborations with other key partners in the United States and Mexico, among others,” FDA said. The statement also says FDA, SENASICA and COFEPRIS intend to expand the scope of their 2014 agreement on produce safety to cover other foods.
Canada published its notice for now-suspended plans to implement retaliatory tariffs on aluminum goods from the U.S. in the Sept. 30 Canada Gazette, Part II. Canada was set to apply the tariffs once the U.S. tariffs on goods from Canada took effect on Sept. 16, but after the U.S. decided Sept. 15 not to implement its tariffs, Canada said it would follow suit (see 2009150048). “Given the timing of the U.S. announcement on September 15, 2020, just hours before Canada’s planned announcement of surtaxes entering into effect, the Order in Council to impose surtaxes (the “Surtax Order”) was already approved and set to enter into force on September 16, 2020,” a Department of Finance Canada spokesperson said.