Mexico’s iron and steel chamber Canacero has urged the partner countries in the US Mexico Canada Free Trade Agreement to avoid protectionist practices and focus on strengthening value chains in the region. Canacero said “The Mexican steel industry rejects the protectionist claims of some American senators who call for the reimposition of measure 232 on Mexican steel. Faced with the complaint of a group of 13 American senators about the alleged sudden increase in Mexican exports of conduction pipes (conduit) and some other products, the chamber specifies that Mexican steel exports to the US represented only 3.3% of domestic consumption, while the market share of the United States in Mexico amounts to 14.6%.”Canacero also ratified its support for Mexican authorities in helping to carry out an objective analysis of the situation that "blocks the way to protectionist tendencies, which will undoubtedly be accentuated as the elections in that country approach."The chamber argues that the US has had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1 million tonne on average since 2017 and had a 35% share of Mexican steel imports in 2022, which is double the share of Mexican exports to its northern neighbor.The move is in response to a letter sent last week by more than a dozen US Republican and Democratic senators to the trade authorities in Washington requesting 25% tariffs be reimposed under Section 232 on some Mexican steel products, alleging an unsustainable surge in imports. In the letter, dated 14 February, the US senators called on the Joe Biden administration to immediately begin consultations under the 2019 USMCA agreement that eliminated tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel imports, to address the increase and ensure imports return to "historic volumes of trade," with quotas if necessary.
Mexico’s iron and steel chamber Canacero has urged the partner countries in the US Mexico Canada Free Trade Agreement to avoid protectionist practices and focus on strengthening value chains in the region. Canacero said “The Mexican steel industry rejects the protectionist claims of some American senators who call for the reimposition of measure 232 on Mexican steel. Faced with the complaint of a group of 13 American senators about the alleged sudden increase in Mexican exports of conduction pipes (conduit) and some other products, the chamber specifies that Mexican steel exports to the US represented only 3.3% of domestic consumption, while the market share of the United States in Mexico amounts to 14.6%.”Canacero also ratified its support for Mexican authorities in helping to carry out an objective analysis of the situation that "blocks the way to protectionist tendencies, which will undoubtedly be accentuated as the elections in that country approach."The chamber argues that the US has had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1 million tonne on average since 2017 and had a 35% share of Mexican steel imports in 2022, which is double the share of Mexican exports to its northern neighbor.The move is in response to a letter sent last week by more than a dozen US Republican and Democratic senators to the trade authorities in Washington requesting 25% tariffs be reimposed under Section 232 on some Mexican steel products, alleging an unsustainable surge in imports. In the letter, dated 14 February, the US senators called on the Joe Biden administration to immediately begin consultations under the 2019 USMCA agreement that eliminated tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel imports, to address the increase and ensure imports return to "historic volumes of trade," with quotas if necessary.
