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Earlier this week, the Alliance for Trade Enforcement sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris urging that the Biden-Harris administration take swift enforcement action to hold Mexico accountable for its persistent non-compliance with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was supposed to be fully implemented over one year ago. AFTE previously sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration in March 2021 drawing attention to Mexico’s ongoing violations of the USMCA and asking USTR to bring Mexico into compliance with the agreement.
Mexico’s USMCA violations impact a wide range of industries and put U.S. companies and workers at a disadvantage. They include, but are not limited to:
- Discriminatory policies that block U.S. energy and power companies from receiving permits in Mexico.
- Requirements that Mexican electronic payment service suppliers certify U.S. EPS firms — which effectively gives domestic firms a veto over whether, and which, U.S. companies can enter the market.
- Delayed and non-transparent regulatory approvals for biopharmaceutical and agricultural biotech products.
Full USMCA implementation requires constant attention by all parties to improve an otherwise-robust U.S.-Mexico trade relationship. After all, Mexico is already one of the United States’ top-three trading partners. U.S.-Mexico trade totaled more than $677 billion in 2019 and supports nearly 5 million U.S. jobs.
It’s in the best interests of American businesses and workers that the Biden-Harris administration finally hold the Mexican government accountable to the commitments it made in USMCA — and take enforcement action if it continues to shirk its responsibilities. |
