Trade Agreement Reached
The USMCA is expected to have a very small impact on the economy. [108] An International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussion paper published at the end of March 2019 stated that the agreement would have a “negligible” impact on the general economy. [108] [113] The IMF study predicted that the USMCA “would have a negative impact on trade in the automotive, textile and clothing sectors, while achieving modest welfare gains, mainly due to improved access to the goods market, with a negligible impact on real GDP.” [113] The IMF study concluded that the economic benefits of the USMCA would be greatly enhanced if Trump`s trade war ended (i.e., the United States lowering tariffs on imports steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico and that Canada and Mexico lower retaliatory duties on imports from the United States) [113] with a 16-year forfeiture clause. The contract may be renewed for a period of 16 years during the six-year review period. [51] The introduction of the Sunset clause gives more control in the organization of the future of the USMCA in the hands of national governments. However, there is concern that this could lead to greater uncertainty. Sectors such as automotive require significant investment in cross-border supply chains. [52] Given the dominant position of the U.S. consumer market, it is likely that this will put pressure on companies to establish more production in the United States, with a higher probability of higher production costs for these vehicles. [53] On Tuesday, Democrats said they had agreed with the White House on new provisions and planned to support the agreement in a vote. On May 11, 2018, House Of Representatives spokesman Paul Ryan set May 17 as the deadline for congressional action.
This deadline was not met and the agreement with Mexico was not reached until August 27, 2018. [33] At that time, Canada had not approved the agreement. Mexico`s outgoing President Enrique Pea Nieto, having left office on 1 December 2018 and requiring 60 days as a review period, the deadline for making the agreed text available was set at the end of September 2018, 30 September 2018. Negotiators worked around the clock and reached an agreement less than an hour before midnight on a draft text. The next day, October 1, 2018, the USMCA text was published as an agreed document. On December 19, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the USMCA with multiparty support with 385 votes (Democracy 193, Republican 192) to 41 (Democracy 38, Republican 2, Independent 1). [79] On January 16, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the trade agreement by 89 votes (Democrats 38, Republicans 51) to 10 (Democracy 8, Republican 1, Independent 1)[80] and the bill was forwarded to the White House for the signature of Donald Trump.
[81] On January 29, 2020, Trump signed the agreement (Public Law No: 116-113). [82] NAFTA has been formally amended,[83] but not the 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which is only “suspended.” [84] [85] In December 2010, both parties agreed on a series of minor changes: us tariff reductions for cars and light trucks were delayed by a few years and Korea amended some regulatory policies that would help U.S. manufacturers access the Korean market6. , and the agreement entered into force on March 15, 2012.7 The exact terms of the agreement are still being negotiated, but the United States.