Mexico has been flooding the United States with underpriced steel — in clear violation of a 2019 agreement with Washington. The Biden administration did not address the problem; now, the coming Trump administration must act.
Earlier this month, Liberty Steel announced its decision to idle its wire plant in Peoria, Illinois after idling the steel mill rod mill operations there in October. Liberty Steel also suspended rod mill operations at its Georgetown, South Carolina facility earlier this year.
President-elect Donald Trump read Mexico and Canada the riot act on Monday night, telling them if they don’t seal their border and – in Mexico’s case – drastically slow the flow of fentanyl and other narcotics into the U.S., they’ll be hit with 25% tariffs starting January 20, 2025.
Trump spoke for nearly two hours in his usual off the cuff speaking engagement at the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan recently. The automotive industry was a priority topic, with the presidential candidate saying Washington has to incentivize American auto makers.
Two years of plant closures have led steel pipe maker Zekelman Industries to take matters into its own hands. The company announced on Oct. 21 that it filed a lawsuit against the Mexican government for breaching a 2019 joint steel trade agreement with the United States.
Claudia Sheinbaum, who won Mexico’s June presidential election with 59% of the vote, will take office in October 2024. She succeeds President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and shares his political affiliation as a member of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).
CPA strongly urges the Biden administration to impose quotas and increase tariffs to address Mexico’s surge of steel imports in violation of the agreement.
To craft a pro-America trade and economic agenda, Harris should pledge to increase overall tariffs, use tax credits more broadly to grow critical production, and ignore Wall Street’s call to return to the failed trade policies of the past.
Hofusan is one of the most well known investments of Chinese capital looking not only to sell to Mexican consumers, but – more obviously – to export everything from furniture to washing machines duty free to the United States.
The United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Free Trade Agreement is fast becoming a free trade agreement for the world, whereas any multinational with a presence in Mexico can set up shop and make the U.S. its number one target. China is doing that now.
