US Steel, Aluminum Import Tariffs Continue As Question Mark

A senior Mexican trade official said Thursday that no talks have been scheduled with the U.S. on lifting the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs.“No, we have not started that discussion,” said Juan Carlos Baker, Mexico’s undersecretary for international trade. U.S. trade officials reportedly want Canada and Mexico to agree on a hard cap on the amount of steel and aluminum they could ship to the U.S., so far Canada has said it will not accept quotas.Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and incoming Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard met this week and the two officials called for the tariffs to be lifted as soon as possible. Both countries have retaliated against the U.S. duties with tariffs on US farm goods and other products.Trump administration officials continue to see this issue is separate from the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), but veteran watchers see a two-fold U.S. process seems likey. First, they want hard caps on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum shipments and it could possibly ben leverage to get congressional votes for USMCA once that matter comes for a vote in Congress.