Lift tariffs, U.S. Senate finance chair says

WASHINGTON • Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley on Wednesday called on the Trump administration to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico before Congress begins considering legislation to implement the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal.

The three countries on Nov. 30 signed the pact replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which governs more than US$1.2 trillion in trade. The agreement must be approved by the U.S. Congress and Canadian and Mexican legislators.

“Unfortunately, our producers are unlikely to realize the market access promises of USMCA while the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico remain,” Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. His committee is in charge of shepherding the pact to approval in the Senate.

U.S. farmers — hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade wars with China as well as Mexico and Canada — have long complained that with tariffs remaining in place, they will not be able to benefit fully from the new trade deal.

“Before Congress considers legislation to implement USMCA, the administration should lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from our top two trading partners and secure the elimination of retaliatory tariffs that stand to wipe out gains our farmers have made over the past two-and-a-half decades,” Grassley said.