Latest news with #USMCA-compliant
New Straits Times
21-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Commerce Secretary Lutnick says he is confident US will secure trade deal with EU
WASHINGTON: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday he was confident the United States can secure a trade deal with the European Union, but August 1 is a hard deadline for tariffs to kick in. Lutnick said he had just gotten off the phone with European trade negotiators and there was "plenty of room" for agreement. "These are the two biggest trading partners in the world, talking to each other. We'll get a deal done. I am confident we'll get a deal done," Lutnick said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." US President Donald Trump threatened on July 12 to impose a 30 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major US trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. Lutnick said that was a hard deadline. "Nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1, but they're going to start paying the tariffs on August 1," he said on CBS. Trump announced the tariffs in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He sent letters to other trading partners including Mexico, Canada, Japan and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, as well as a 50 per cent tariff on copper. Lutnick also said he expected Trump to renegotiate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed during Trump's first White House term in 2017-21. Barring any major changes, USMCA-compliant goods from Mexico and Canada are exempt from tariffs. "I think the president is absolutely going to renegotiate USMCA, but that's a year from today," Lutnick said.
Irish Examiner
20-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
US commerce secretary Lutnick 'confident we'll get a deal done' with EU
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday he was confident the United States can secure a trade deal with the European Union, but August 1 is a hard deadline for tariffs to kick in. Lutnick said he had just gotten off the phone with European trade negotiators and there was "plenty of room" for agreement. "These are the two biggest trading partners in the world, talking to each other. We'll get a deal done. I am confident we'll get a deal done," Mr Lutnick said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." US president Donald Trump threatened on July 12 to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union starting on August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major US trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal. Mr Lutnick said that was a hard deadline. "Nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1, but they're going to start paying the tariffs on August 1," he said on CBS. Mr Trump announced the tariffs in a letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. He sent letters to other trading partners including Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20% to 50%, as well as a 50% tariff on copper. Mr Lutnick also said he expected Mr Trump to renegotiate the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed during Mr Trump's first White House term in 2017-21. Barring any major changes, USMCA-compliant goods from Mexico and Canada are exempt from tariffs. "I think the president is absolutely going to renegotiate USMCA, but that's a year from today," Mr Lutnick said. Reuters
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Business Standard
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Mexico's 'cool-head' Trump approach tested by latest tariff threat
Mexican officials were taken aback by President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat after paying frequent visits to his top aides in Washington to convince him their efforts to fight drug trafficking were paying off. For months, US officials have been effusive about Mexican cooperation on issues related to the border and security. 'Very responsive,' raved Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 'Positive momentum,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it. On Saturday, Trump blasted the country's response in a letter threatening 30 per cent tariffs. 'What Mexico has done is not enough,' he wrote. 'Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels.' Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for the country to keep 'a cool head,' but a sense of exasperation swept over people involved in the US negotiations, according to people familiar with the talks. Their cordial approach suddenly seemed to have yielded little — for now. The neighboring nation is looking to persuade Trump that Mexico and the US are complementary economies, and that Mexico is willing to cooperate against cartels in unprecedented ways, added the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Trump's threat of a 30 per cent rate, with exceptions for products certified under the trilateral trade agreement between the two countries and Canada, is unlikely to drastically move the needle beyond the 25 per cent rate already in place, according to Bloomberg Economics. Nearly 83 per cent of US imports from Mexico were exempt from tariffs in May, mainly due to exemptions on USMCA-compliant goods. But Trump's 30 per cent threat isn't much better than the 35 per cent rate he announced for Canada, which has taken a much more confrontational tone with Trump while Mexico played nice. Some US officials tried to suggest cooperation could continue despite the letter. US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said Saturday in Mexico City that Sheinbaum and Trump have a 'wonderful relationship' and no partnership should be easier than between their two countries. 'America First doesn't mean America alone. In fact, I'm here in Mexico with my arms open in friendship with a message of true respect for the sovereignty of Mexico,' he said at a tuxedo-filled gala thrown in his honor and attended by many from Mexico's political, business and media elite. Sector-specific tariffs, including on steel and soon on copper, had given Mexico in recent weeks reasons to appeal to Trump's officials for a fairer deal as it seeks to protect its position as the US's top trade partner in the world. It had shielded part of its export industry by negotiating to have a previously announced auto duty limited to the non-US portion of cars. 'Mexican authorities will likely continue to engage constructively with the US administration, on border control and to some extent also by hardening the stance against the drug cartels and the flow of fentanyl into the US, in order to preserve access to the US market under competitive conditions,' wrote Alberto Ramos, head of Latin American economics at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in a note. Mexico's peace offerings have included the extradition of dozens of high-profile detainees involved in the drug trade, and an increase in busts along drug routes. Its security minister has been one of the visitors in the Washington talks, and on the domestic front the government has pushed for legislation to increase investigations of unsolved crimes. But ties have also been strained in recent weeks by the US announcement of a move to cut off three Mexican financial firms over potential involvement in money laundering for drug cartels. For now, Mexico is staying the course. The Economy Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Minister Marcelo Ebrard had been in Washington since Friday for negotiations with the White House, the US Trade Representative and the Commerce Department, and that Mexico would defend its interests. The ministry called Trump's proposed tariff increase, to take effect Aug. 1, 'unfair.' Mexico will work to find 'an alternative that allows us to protect businesses and jobs on both sides of the border,' the ministry said.
Mint
13-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Market Resilience Challenged by Trump's Weekend Tariff Salvo
Financial markets, which have shown increasing insensitivity to tariff threats from the US, will face a test at the Monday open after President Donald Trump declared a 30% rate for the European Union and Mexico effective Aug. 1. Trump has ratcheted up trade measures, promising that more tariffs are coming to everyone from Canada to Brazil to Algeria and inviting trading partners to negotiate further. Despite warnings of complacency from the likes of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, investors have so far behaved as if they're counting on the US president to back down, having seen previous U-turns from his administration. 'Investors shouldn't bank on Trump only bluffing with the 30% tariff threat on EU goods,' Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, wrote in an email. 'That level of tariffs is punitive, but it likely hurts them more than the US, so the clock is ticking.' Having set a record high in recent days, Bitcoin, which trades through the weekend, was little moved after the latest Trump missives. Currency markets will give another indication of the impact on global risk appetite when they resume trading at 5 a.m. Sydney time. The euro touched its strongest level against the dollar since 2021 this month as investors assessed the region's relative growth prospects. The EU had been trying to conclude a tentative deal with the US to stave off higher tariffs, but Trump's letter punctured the recent optimism in Brussels. The US president did, however, leave an opening for additional adjustments. 'As usual, there are many conditions and clauses that can get these rates reduced,' Jacobsen wrote. 'That's probably why the market might not like the tariff talk, but it's not panicking about it either.' Financial markets have been struggling with how to price in the on-again, off-again tariff campaign instigated by Trump so far in his second term. While markets responded to the April 2 'Liberation Day' announcements by selling risk assets and even US Treasuries, those moves have now almost all reversed as the president delayed many of his threatened levies. Even when Trump said that Aug. 1 would be a hard deadline, markets reacted as if that date was still negotiable. They did show some signs of caution Friday, when stocks fell from all-time highs as Trump intensified his trade offensive, and the dollar rallied for its best week since February. In his letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump said the country has been 'helping me secure the border,' but added that it wasn't enough. The US doesn't intend to apply the 30% rate to USMCA-compliant goods, according to a White House official. The Mexican peso set a one-year high of 18.5525 versus the dollar on July 9. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Mint
12-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Mexico Sure It Will Strike Deal With US to Skirt Tariffs
Mexico is projecting confidence that it will fend off a new set of 30% tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on the Latin American country starting on Aug. 1. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a speech in the border state of Sonora that every country was getting a letter from Trump. She said her team had already begun discussions with the US on Friday and was confident Mexico would get a deal. 'We believe, based on what our colleagues discussed yesterday, that we will reach an agreement with the United States government and that, of course, we will achieve better conditions,' she said, repeating her refrain about how it's best to keep a cool head. Mexico and the US established a new binational working group on Friday to address security, migration and economic issues, according to a statement posted on Saturday by Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard on X. The first major task of the group will be to find an alternative to the tariffs and 'protect jobs on both sides of the border,' the statement read. 'We told the group that this treatment is unfair and that we're not in agreement,' read the statement, jointly signed by the Economy and the Foreign Affairs ministries. Trump published his latest tariff threats early Saturday, saying Mexico would be subject to the 30% rate for not doing enough to fight fentanyl trafficking, even though the country has made strides in helping secure the border with the US. The U.S. doesn't intend to apply the 30% rate to USMCA-compliant goods, according to a White House official. The situation remains fluid, the official cautioned. The administration has previously said it will keep the exemption for Canada. Continuing the exclusion for both Mexico and Canada narrows the scope of Trump's continental tariffs and would be a lifeline to sectors like the auto industry that rely heavily on the USMCA pact, which was renegotiated under Trump's first term. The US president said the 30% tariffs are separate from sectoral ones and could be raised if Mexico retaliates. 'Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground,' Trump wrote. 'If Mexico is successful in challenging the Cartels and stopping the flow of Fentanyl, we will consider an adjustment to this letter.' He said Mexico has many other non-tariff trade barriers that have created an 'unsustainable' trade deficit with the US. With assistance from Josh Wingrove. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
