The United States is required to release the text of the preliminary U.S.-Mexico trade deal by September 30th. The bilateral agreement comes at a time when trilateral talks between the United States, Canada, and Mexico hit difficulties in their effort to modernize the 24 year old North American Free Trade Agreement. Our first audio brief offers insight into the top five things that business owners need to know about this preliminary trade deal.
Listen to what GRIIT President and CEO Sarita D. Jackson, Ph.D. has to say about the preliminary trade deal by visiting the following link: https://soundcloud.com/griit/griit-sept-newsletter-us-mexico-trade-deal.
Transcript Summary:
Five things that you need to know about the preliminary U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement:
1. The main part of NAFTA–duty-free access–remains in place.
2. The regional content requirement on automobiles has increased from 62.5 percent.
3. The United States and Mexico agreed to use more U.S. and Mexican steel and aluminum, but the contentious U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum remain in place.
4. About 40-45 percent of a vehicles value must be manufactured by workers earning no less than US$16 per hour.
5. The lifespan for NAFTA will be 16 years with a review every six years that would extend the pact for another 16 years.
Sign up for the newsletter for a calendar of upcoming talks on NAFTA and the U.S.-Mexico preliminary trade deal at www.griit.org.
