United States Trade Representative, Catherine Tay accused the current Mexican government of imposing various obstacles to US agricultural trade, as well as technical barriers to business activity in general.
at National Trade Estimation Report on Obstacles to Foreign Trade 2022 (NTE report), the US government has clarified that it is submitting a review of Significant external barriers to exports of goods and servicesForeign direct investment, e-commerce and export markets.
“The NTE 2022 report identifies a variety of important challenges and priorities to guide the Joe Biden administration’s efforts to design a trade policy that reflects the values of our country and builds a better America,” the US official said.
The report covers trade barriers in import policies, trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, public procurement, intellectual property protection, services, e-commerce, investment, subsidies, government corporations, employment, and the environment, among others.
As for the section agriculturalthe report highlights a number of systemic brakes affecting US trade, including SPS measures that are not based on science, maintained without sufficient scientific evidence, or applied beyond what is necessary.
“Like Mexico’s decisions on agricultural biotechnology applications and its decree to phase out biotech-grown corn, burdensome certification requirements for animal products, and non-science-based policies affecting innovative crop technologies,” he said.
As for the Technical Barriers to Tradethe United States has accused that regulations or conformity assessment procedures are a legitimate form of regulation, but that in some cases they can be used to unnecessarily restrict trade or slow the movement of innovative products.
“Examples include the draft Mexican Conformity Assessment Procedure for Cheese, and the Panama Technical Regulations for Onions and Potatoes,” highlighted the report from the northern neighboring country published by US Bureau of Commerces (USTR).
The report also highlights how to do this Several countries have implemented car safety standards It excludes vehicles designed to meet US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which provide a high level of protection equal to or exceeding that of other countries.
Over the next year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative will continue to engage with foreign governments and authorities to ensure that US exports of standards-compliant vehicles reach their markets, including Colombia, Egypt, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
AMP
