​Chris Sevcik, Director of International Trade Services, WTCGP

​President Trump signed the USMCA today.  The USMCA aims to build on NAFTA by strengthening the alliance and ensuring all parties benefit.  Mexico has already ratified the agreement.  Canada, long insisting it would wait for US approval before proceeding, still must ratify the new agreement and then Canada, Mexico and the US must meet their obligations before the deal takes effect. 

The US International Trade Commission estimates that “USMCA would raise U.S. GDP by $68.2B and us employment by 176,000 jobs.”  They go on to state that “US exports to Canada and Mexico would increase by $19.1B (5.9%) and $14.2B (6.7%), respectively.”  This projected increase in GDP and jobs for Americans allowed for the Senate to pass the bill overwhelmingly with an 89-10 vote.
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Major areas of change:

• Increases to 75% from 62.5% auto components need to have originated in North America
• Requires 70% of car’s steel and aluminum to be made in North America
• 40%-45% of vehicle content must come from areas paying more than $16 an hour
• Updates the rules of origin and origin procedures
• Prohibits duties on digital products
• Limits data localization requirements
• Creates a new informal shipment level of 2.500 to reduce paperwork on SMEs
• Market access gains for American dairy products

Approved with bi-partisan support, USMCA will benefit companies across North America, create jobs and boost GDPs. 

​Chris Sevcik, Director of International Trade Services, WTCGP

​The US and India are working towards a bilateral free trade agreement that is meant to ensure both parties benefit and targeted industries expand. A trade pact, described as a “mini-deal,” could come as soon as President Trump’s next visit to New Delhi scheduled in the coming weeks.  This could restore India’s preferential trade status and ease US concerns with India’s trade and economic practices.
 
American companies are looking at expanding their operations in India, and 200 companies have expressed their interest to move from China to India.  As supply chains continue to shift, a US-India free trade agreement can help companies in both countries expand their partnerships and grow.
 
Forty products imported from the US into India have been identified including pistachios, walnuts and apples for duty concessions so far.  Medical devices, steel and aluminum are still under negotiation. The mini-deal will likely not include a decrease in trade tariffs.  Reductions should be addressed in subsequent negotiations to ensure companies in both countries are able to have better market access for their products.
 
While both parties are aligned in their ambitions to develop a free trade agreement, tech policy is an issue that could be a potential deal breaker. There are currently three main hurdles that could cause issue: India’s Personal Data Protection Bill, India’s E-Commerce policy and their Intermediary guidelines.
 
India’s Personal Data Protection Bill was formally approved on December 4th by the Cabinet. If passed, the bill could impose strict data localization measures and establish a new Data Protection Authority to enforce compliance requirements with monetary penalties for those companies found to be uncompliant. Should this bill be passed, it may cause potential issues for international companies and potentially cause the US-India Free Trade Agreement to derail.
 
India’s E-commerce policy is being revisited by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The new policy could require the disclosure of source code and introduce broad restrictions limiting pricing strategies of multinationals. The MOCI has suggested that these new policies could be completed by mid-2020. If this policy is enacted, US companies would have to hand over their source code, a potential deal breaker for a U.S. India Trade Agreement.
 
India’s intermediary guidelines are about to be updated. This update will impact social media firms including Facebook. The updates are currently under review but are expected to include a mandatory traceability requirement. This requirement, if enacted, would force companies to break end-to-end encryption and create backdoors into their code. India claims that traceability is needed to ensure the safety of its citizens; however, privacy advocates are worried that the government could track down critics and impact free speech.    
 
Many companies, government officials and individual citizens see a US-India Free Trade agreement as a benefit to both India and the US; however, there are still several hurdles that must be cleared before it can take effect.  

​By Chris Sevcik, Director of International Trade Services, WTCGP

The US is expected to sign a trade deal with China today.  This deal is the first phase of a larger trade deal that is expected at a later date. News of the deal has been well received by markets with the Dow Jones crossing 29,000, an all-time high.

The US-China trade dispute originated as a dispute over intellectual property.  Intellectual property is addressed in the phase one deal.  China will crackdown on policies concerning forced technology transfer and address other barriers for entry.  Enforcement of intellectual property is also included in the phase one deal.  Should an issue arise and the US trade representative receives a complaint, it will be adjudicated within 90 days.  If the US trade representative does not feel the issue was addressed properly, the US has the right to impose a proportionate response and China has promised that it will not retaliate.

The US-China phase one trade deal will also include the agreement by China to open its financial services sector to US firms.  This opening up will account for much of the increase in services to be purchased by China from the US.  In this deal, China has also agreed to “refrain from deliberately pushing down its currency to gain a trade advantage.”  This will allow US companies to compete on a more level playing field in the Chinese market.  With China agreeing to not deliberately adjust its currency, the US has also dropped the currency manipulator label placed on Beijing.

China has also agreed to increase purchases of US goods and services.  In the first phase of the trade deal, it has been announced that China has agreed to purchase a roughly $200B in US goods.  Of this $200B purchasing agreement, approximately $75B will come from manufactured goods, $50B from energy, $40B from agriculture, and $35B from services.  There is discussion, however, regarding how this agreement will become reality.

The increase in manufactured goods will likely come from the purchase of aircraft, autos, and auto parts.  With the 737max grounded, however, there may be an issue in aircraft purchases until this issue has been resolved.  Most American automotive OEMs have manufacturing bases in China.  The most popular vehicles produced in the US and sold in China include SUVs from BMW and Mercedes.  With limited supply, it is questioned how increases will be forthcoming. 

There are several roadblocks that may impact the effectiveness of this agreement.  The auto industry in China has cooled off in recent years.  China car sales are down and excess domestic capacity is rising.  This, combined with no changes on high tariffs placed on US-made autos, procurement rules favoring Chinese manufacturers or subsidies to Chinese state-owned enterprises, means that increasing the sale of US-made autos remains in question. 

There has been discussion regarding China’s demand for increased agricultural products.  In 2017, China spent $24B on US farm goods.  Is China’s demand for US farm goods nearly double today as it was two years ago?  Experts are skeptical and with the recent strong increase of purchases of soybeans from Brazil by China in the past week, skepticism remains high. 
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China economy has slowed in recent years.  As its economy slows, demand for energy decreases.  Energy analysts are questioning if China will have the need to purchase an additional $50B in energy products.  Sourcing for crude oil, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been established and it is unlikely that a large increase in energy products will be required soon.

The slowdown in China’s economy may not impact all sectors exporting from the US.  China recently has reduced tariffs, issued rate cuts to fuel lending, and has “called on local governments to ‘go to all lengths’ to prevent massive job losses.” In the short-term, if the Chinese economy is pushed into a ballooning scenario, imports will be required from multiple sectors to continue pushing out products.  Imports will also be required as the domestic population continues to consume.  In the long term, however, this will not be sustainable.

Phase one of the US-China trade deal still has several hurdles to cross, but with the inclusion of intellectual property protection, the opening up of the financial sector, and the agreement to increase purchasing of US goods and services, many companies will find doing business in China much easier.