NAFTA

Port and yard tools must keep pace with increased demand.

North American shippers are producing considerable volume of cross-border freight. How shippers navigate the complexities revolving around border delays, near-shoring demands and Customs documentation will determine their transport efficiency.

Hemispheric trade got a big boost when a new cross-border agreement was crafted and signed, but now U.S. shippers must turn their attention to ongoing tensions in Asia and the looming impact made by Brexit.

As was expected following both the United States House of Representatives and Senate each voting to move forward with the United States Mexico Canada (USMCA) agreement, as a replacement for its predecessor the North American Free Trade Agreement, USMCA was formally signed into law by President Trump yesterday.

In a media conference call this week, Neil Bradley, U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive vice president and chief policy officer, said that time is of the essence for Congress to move forward and enact USCMA sooner than later.

While the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) is not a done deal until it is signed off by Congress and signed into law by President Trump, that has not stopped business concerns from clamoring for that to happen. That was made clear in a letter sent to the members of Congress by more than 600 United States-based business groups and more than 30 industries.

With last Friday’s news that the United States and Mexico reached a deal that will put off the implementation of tariffs by the United States on Mexico, which it had planned to start today as a countermeasure to what President Trump called an “ongoing illegal immigration crisis” at the Southern border, it is likely cross-border trade stakeholders are breathing a collective sign of relief.

Trade experts say the new, trilateral trade agreement has much to offer, but isn’t much of a departure from NAFTA. However, one thing is for certain: international shippers must master some new fine print if USMCA is ratified—and do it quickly.

While USMCA has still not been formally signed into law, it has the attention of the freight railroad sector, to be sure. And that was presented in a very detailed letter sent to the Members of the United States Congress from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and its undersigned Class I freight railroad members.

There appears to be a collective sigh relief among freight railroad industry stakeholders, regardless of the agreement’s new name.

Dr. Walter Kemmsies, economist and chief strategist with JLL, widely viewed as one of the foremost experts on ports, rail, and infrastructure in the U.S., discusses globalization and the domestic logistics supply chain industry with SMC³.

Softening the impact of tariffs by utilizing Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) has long been an attractive option for savvy shippers. But in today’s world of sudden changes in trade policies, the practice may need to be more widely embraced.

Even though a ‘new NAFTA’ has been introduced, many specifics remain slim.

Just before the midnight deadline last Sunday, September 30, 2018, the US and Canada struck a deal on trade and announced the framework for a new, revised NAFTA - now known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.

Based on news coming out of the nation’s capital yesterday, it appears that progress on NAFTA’s future is becoming visible, at least, with the U.S. and Mexico coming to terms on various facets of a new NAFTA, so to speak.