Mexico reports progress in trilateral trade pact review

Mexico said Thursday that the third round of talks on reviewing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) had made progress, and that a new U.S. trade ruling would not change the effective tariffs paid by Mexican exports.



Mexico's Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that Mexico and the United States had worked to bring their positions closer based on their shared economic integration. The two sides agreed to hold a fourth round of talks in the first half of September.



Ebrard said the U.S. ruling, issued under Section 301, replaced a previous provision affecting about 60 countries, but did not change Mexico's current trade treatment.



He said more than 80 percent of Mexican exports that comply with USMCA rules of origin would remain excluded from the new provisions, while a 10-percent tariff on non-compliant products was already in place and only its legal basis had changed.



"In short, we do not see a change in the effective tariff that Mexico is paying today," Ebrard said.



The remarks came as Mexico, the United States and Canada continue talks on the USMCA review amid rising attention to U.S. trade policy.