The US Trade Representative Office issued a statement on the 17th that the United States and Canada and Mexico agreed on the same day that the United States canceled the tariff on steel and aluminum in these two countries.

The statement said that the United States agreed to cancel the tariff on steel and aluminum for Canada and Mexico, while Canada and Mexico agreed to cancel the counter-measures against the US tariff on steel and aluminum. At the same time, the three parties of the United States and Mexico agreed to supervise the steel and aluminum trade and set up a mechanism to prevent the surge in steel and aluminum imports.

The US Trade Representative Office said that if the surge in imports of specific steel and aluminum products occurs, the United States may re-impose tariffs on these steel and aluminum products, and any counter-measures in Canada and Mexico will be limited to steel and aluminum products.

US Chamber of Commerce President Donohue issued a statement on the same day to welcome the decision, saying it would ease the impact of tariffs on US farmers and manufacturers, and promote the US Congress to approve the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. ". A number of US congressmen have warned that if the United States does not cancel the tariff on steel and aluminum in the two countries, the US-Mega-Canada agreement is unlikely to be approved by the legislatures of the three countries.

The three countries of the United States and Mexico agreed to update the North American Free Trade Agreement on September 30 last year. The new trade agreement was named the US-Mega-Canada agreement. In November last year, the three countries officially signed the text of the agreement, but they still need to be approved by their respective legislative bodies before they can enter into force. According to a study released by the US International Trade Commission in April this year, the full impact of the US-Mexico agreement on the US economy and employment is limited.

Earlier last year, the US government imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum products on the grounds of national security in accordance with Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which was widely opposed by the US and the international community. Economists generally believe that steel and aluminum tariffs cannot protect US national security, but will harm US manufacturers, consumers and the overall economy, distort international supply chains, and undermine the stability of the multilateral trading system.