The US government expressed to its counterpart in the Mexican government its concerns regarding the USMCA trade agreement, including the possible triangulation of steel and aluminum imports from other countries to the United States, according to local press reports.
"Electronic payments and steel triangulation worry the United States," the newspaper El Economista published as a headline.
Last week the trade authorities of the United States, Canada and Mexico met in Cancun, where the Secretary of Economy of Mexico, Raquel Buenrostro, met with the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, and Canada's Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng.
Tai urged the Mexican government to abide by the rules of the USMCA trade agreement. Among the concerns was the increase in steel and aluminum exports from Mexico to the United States.
Congressmen from the United States have mentioned that countervailing duties should be imposed again on Mexican steel exports, as was done in 2018 subject to US Section 232 tariffs. Mexico responded with commercial retaliation and in May 2019 they were eliminated.
Reports from the specialized press report that rebar exports from Mexico to the United States increased 3,000 percent between 2015 and 2017.
The Mexican side promised to monitor steel and aluminum exports to the United States, as agreed in 2019 to free Mexico from measure 232 and thus avoid the triangulation of these products from third countries.