U.S. solar tariffs challenged by Canada
- by Constance Griffith
- in Money
- — Jul 27, 2018
The Canadian government launched a North American Free Trade Agreement challenge to the Trump administration's safeguard duties on solar panels Monday, asserting that the tariffs were imposed illegally.
Soon after taking office, President Donald Trump made good on his campaign promise and announced that the US would seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, ) a multilateral agreement with Canada and Mexico that was put into effect in 1994.
The Trudeau government has asked for a NAFTA review of a Trump administration tariff on solar panel cells, saying the 30-per-cent charge is illegal and unfair.
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The long-running renegotiation, launched by U.S. President Donald Trump a year ago, has taken on a renewed sense of urgency since Lopez Obrador's victory. He announced that Mexico would establish a free trade zone all along the Mexico-U.S. border, and in the rail corridor that will be built across the Tehuantepec Isthmus, as part of his job-creation strategy.
The missive was the latest step in a thawing between the two countries since Lopez Obrador's landslide victory, after a tense 18 months between Trump with outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who remains in office until December 1, has stated that his team in NAFTA negotiations would work together with Lopez Obrador's.
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"The new president, terrific person", Trump said in a speech at the White House about American manufacturing.
Last week, Trump mused about separate deals with Canada and Mexico.
His comments come hours after Bloomberg reported Mexico was pushing for a NAFTA deal by the end of August and follows an Axios report German chancellor Angela Merkel is open to negotiating a trade deal to prevent Trump from carrying out his threat to put 25 percent tariffs on auto imports into the U.S.
López Obrador sent a letter to President Trump last week urging a resolution to the NAFTA talks, Reuters reports, as "prolonging the uncertainty could stop investment in the medium and long-term", threatening economic growth.
On Wednesday, Lopez Obrador will meet with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in his transition offices. It said the American and Mexican administrations should work together on trade, migration, development and security.
Seade and Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo will later this week travel to Washington to revive NAFTA talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
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