Canadian Parliament passes USMCA

The Canadian Parliament, Ottawa, Ontario, rushed to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact on Friday, March 13, before taking a three-week break to help stop the spread of coronavirus. The USMCA is designed to replace the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  

According to a report from Reuters March 13, Canada was the last of the three signatories to formally adopt the pact. 

The House of Commons lower chamber, which had weeks of deliberation left, agreed to approve the pact March 13 after opposition legislators dropped their objections. Reuters reports that the upper Senate chamber backed the pact later in the day. 

“Now that the USMCA has been approved by all three countries, a historic new chapter for North American trade has begun,” U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer states.

In a letter to Congress, Lighthizer sent notice of an entry-into-force date of June 1 for USMCA, according to the Reuters report.

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, commended Canada on the achievement of royal assent of the USMCA from Gov. General Julie Payette. 

“The USMCA is a win for the North American recycling industry,” says ISRI President Robin Wiener. “The market and policy certainty that comes with the agreement will support the 130,000 U.S. jobs that depend on strong regional trade for scrap commodities and the industries that depend on these critical materials. We look forward to a swift implementation process in order to gain immediately from the agreement.”

According to a news release from ISRI regarding USMCA’s passage in Canada, ISRI says it has been an advocate for the industry throughout the negotiations because it will support the already robust North American scrap trade. More than 160,000 U.S. recycling industry jobs dependent on trade and more than $7.7 billion of U.S. scrap imports and exports are bolstered by key components of the agreement, including:

• maintained tariff-free access in Mexico (U.S. and Canada are already tariff-free);
• improved and accelerated customs clearances;
• indirect recognition of the ISRI Specifications as industry standards; and 
• increased demand for scrap through enhanced auto rules of origin requirements.

"ISRI has worked assiduously with the administration, members of Congress and industry partners to advocate for this agreement," ISRI says. "In partnership with the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries (CARI) and Mexico’s National Institute of Recyclers (INARE), ISRI developed a platform of issues that we three advocated with our respective governments during the early stages of the negotiation. The final agreement reflects our joint efforts."