Overview
- More than 200 chief executives organized by the Business Roundtable asked Washington to remove Section 232 and IEEPA tariffs on Mexico and Canada, arguing they undercut T‑MEC preferences and correlating them with a 7.3% drop in bilateral trade since March.
- The Business Roundtable’s filing to USTR alleges Mexican measures favor CFE and Pemex and create non‑tariff barriers across sectors, citing electricity dispatch priority, new energy import permits and inspections, reduced airline slots and cargo limits at Mexico City’s airport, and unusually high spectrum fees.
- The United States has requested consultations under the T‑MEC dispute process over Mexico’s energy policy, a case that could advance to an arbitral panel if talks do not resolve concerns.
- USTR’s public docket logged hundreds of submissions, with a large majority asserting the new U.S. tariffs conflict with T‑MEC and calling for smoother customs procedures and clearer due process across sectors.
- Mexico’s economy secretary Marcelo Ebrard says the country will seek selective improvements rather than a broad reopening, noting 28 of 32 regional consultations completed and a January deadline to define negotiation limits, as think tanks like ITIF urge conditioning renewal on intellectual‑property compliance.