The panel deciding whether Mexico's policy on genetically modified corn breaks the rules of the USMCA will probably rule by March 2024, Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said at a press conference in Washington after the High Level Economic Dialogue meetings Sept. 29.

It's not realistic to believe Canada, Mexico and the U.S. would be ready to admit more members to the USMCA before their presidential contests in 2024 or Canada's parliamentary elections in 2025, panelists said at a program hosted by the Council of the Americas. But Juan Carlos Baker, Mexico's former chief negotiator for the NAFTA successor, said the six-year review in 2026 would be a perfect time to make accession a possibility.

Allegations that Diesel Canada, Hugo Boss Canada and Walmart Canada purchase garments that were made in part with Uyghur forced labor -- complaints that rely on Australian Strategic Policy Institute reporting in 2020 and Sheffield Hallam University reports -- will progress to a fact-finding investigation after the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) found that the companies' responses weren't satisfactory.

U.S. rice exports to Costa Rica have “plummeted” following Costa Rica’s decision a year ago to reduce tariffs on rice from all origins, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in an Aug. 25 report. The agency said American rice exports to Costa Rica fell 98% through June since the tariff reduction, adding that as “tariffs on South American-origin rice fell to 5 percent in August 2022, purchases of U.S. rice all but stopped."

Brazil recently removed 1,443 items from its list of foreign capital goods and information technology and telecommunications goods subject to duty-free treatment under its Ex-Tarifario regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 28. The goods are classified in Harmonized System chapters 84, 85, 86 and 90. HKTDC said most of the goods were removed for "inactivity reasons."

Canada will participate as a third party in the U.S.-Mexico dispute over Mexico’s ban on genetically engineered corn in tortillas and dough, the country announced Aug. 25. Mary Ng, Canada’s trade minister, said she “shares the concerns of the United States that Mexico is not compliant with the science and risk analysis obligations under” the USMCA’s sanitary and phytosanitary measures chapter. “Canada believes that the measures taken by Mexico are not scientifically supported and have the potential to unnecessarily disrupt trade in the North American market,” Ng said.

Canadian mining company GobiMin is "pleased" that the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) has "declined to pursue an investigation of GobiMin’s activities and that it recognized that GobiMin engaged in good faith with the CORE’s initial assessment," a company spokesperson said in an Aug. 22 email.

The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) will begin an investigation in response to a complaint accusing Ralph Lauren Canada LP of "using or benefiting" from Uyghur forced labor, CORE announced in a press release Aug. 15. This follows the publication of an Initial Assessment report for Ralph Lauren Canada detailing allegations that it has supply relationships with Chinese companies that use Uyghur forced labor.

Mexico raised tariffs for imports of steel and other items from non-free trade agreement countries, the country announced Aug 16, according to an unofficial translation. The increased tariffs -- which could subject certain products to duties "of up to 25%," the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said -- will apply to merchandise from certain “strategic industries,” including steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, aluminum, tires, plastics, glass and ceramics.

The U.S. has initiated the formation of a dispute settlement panel over Mexico's decree to not allow biotech corn for tortillas and directive to the administration to gradually substitute genetically modified corn in processed foods and in animal feed.