Chief USMCA negotiators address de minimis, 232, dispute settlement issues

The chief negotiators for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement last week squared off over issues related to de minimis levels, steel and aluminum tariffs and changes to the deal’s state-to-state dispute settlement provisions. U.S. chief NAFTA negotiator John Melle, who serves as assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere, joined Mexico’s former chief negotiator Kenneth Smith Ramos and Colin Bird, the Canadian embassy’s minister-counsellor for trade and economic policy, at Georgetown Law for a frank discussion on controversial issues that arose...