Possible NAFTA Changes Laid Out

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/24/2017 - 07:32

A draft of a letter that would notify Congress of the Trump administration’s intent to renegotiate NAFTA sets forth dozens of potential changes to the 23-year-old agreement...

Acting U.S. Trade Representative Steven Vaughn said in the letter that Canada and Mexico have become among the largest export markets for U.S. manufactured goods and agricultural products under NAFTA but that “the persistent U.S. deficit in goods trade” with these two countries “demands that this administration take swift action to revise the relationship to reflect and respond to new 21st century challenges.” ...

Among the improvements mentioned in the letter are the following.

Trade in Goods

  • expand current market access on the broadest possible basis
  • eliminate non-tariff barriers, including permit and licensing barriers, and other trade restrictive measures
  • improve competitive opportunities for textile and apparel exports while addressing U.S. import sensitivities
  • level the playing field on tax treatment

Customs

  • improve upon World Trade Organization trade facilitation commitments, including rules requiring each NAFTA party to conduct customs operations with transparency, efficiency, and predictability and to not apply customs laws, regulations, decisions, and rulings in a manner that would create unwarranted procedural obstacles to international trade
  • seek terms for cooperative efforts regarding enforcement of customs rules and related issues, including in the areas of trade in textiles and apparel, agricultural products of concern, and enhanced ability to prevent and address antidumping and countervailing duty evasion and transshipment

Rules of Origin

  • seek rules of origin that ensure NAFTA supports production and jobs in the U.S., procedures for applying these rules, and provisions to address circumvention to ensure that NAFTA preferential duty rates apply only to goods eligible to receive such treatment without creating unnecessary obstacles to trade...

This was excerpted from 31 March 2017 article in the Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report.