Canadian Aparel Federation member update: Canada-US Trade
As has been widely reported, US President-elect Trump has indicated that his administration will impose a 25% duty on goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico. While this announcement took industry/markets by surprise, it is in line with many other statements and priorities of the incoming administration. The announcement re. tariffs highlighted that these measures were to be undertaken to stem the flow of illegal immigration and illicit drugs into the US.
The president will be sworn in on January 20 and is anticipated that a number of executive actions will be taken at that time in terms of immigration, tariffs and other issues.
This announcement moves forward issues around the renegotiation of our free trade agreement with Mexico and the US.
As with the negotiations which led to the creation CUSMA (and NAFTA before it), CAF is working closely with the Canadian negotiators and with US industry partners to understand the situation, and minimize the impact on this industry.
We are planning two members-only webinars in December. We will be hosting an online panel discussion on US tariff issues with several Washington based lawyers. We had originally scheduled this for the week of December 16 and we will attempt to move this up.
In addition to this we will be presenting a year-end trade policy roundup dealing with:
- Multiple Free Trade Agreements under negotiation,
- Changes to the Least Developed Country Tariff which take effect on Jan. 1, 2025
- N.A. free trade / tariffs - CUSMA renewal etc.
- Responsible Supply Chain policy and other customs issues
More than anything else if your business depends on trade with the United States please make sure that you contact our executive Director Bob Kirke, bkirke@apparel.ca if you have questions or concerns. We will be pulling together a committee of members with a strong interest in this issue.
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