Overview
- Senior U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has intervened at late stages of talks to resist cutting a 25% U.S. auto tariff and 50% steel and aluminum tariffs, a move negotiators say has slowed progress.
- Sources close to the negotiations told The Wall Street Journal that the same last-minute hardening of U.S. demands helped derail near-agreements with Canada in August and has re-emerged in talks with Mexico.
- Mexican officials say talks are continuing and report concessions such as bigger purchases of U.S. goods and new limits on Chinese imports, but they acknowledge Lutnick’s stance remains a central obstacle.
- U.S. metal producers have warned that trimming duties on finished products would hurt domestic firms and cost jobs, while automakers have complained that stricter crossing rules make trade more cumbersome.
- The dispute exposes a split in U.S. trade operations between the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department and could complicate the upcoming T-MEC review and cross-border manufacturing.