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Bochen Han

Witnesses at a US trade agency hearing are pushing officials to put economic security high on the agenda to counter China ahead of a high-stakes review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The hearing convened by the Office of the US Trade Representative on Wednesday – the first public session before next July’s joint review of the free trade deal – kicks off three days of testimony from more than 140 representatives from business, think tanks, academia and advocacy groups.
“One cannot make a strategic argument about the value of economic integration without also having a pragmatic and specific plan for ensuring that integration reduces, rather than exacerbates, economic and national security risks,” said Emily Kilcrease, a senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security think tank.
She urged the three countries to adopt stronger economic security rules – from export controls to investment screening – and to fast-track licensing exemptions and other approvals for one another. She also recommended coordinating tariffs on China while exempting each other from those measures.


In a written submission, she recommended that the three North American economies create an “economic security committee” to oversee implementation of such commitments.
Asked to elaborate on that proposal by Treasury Department official Mirea Lynton Grotz on Wednesday, Kilcrease said the committee would be a way to share information and act as a forum to resolve disputes.
The exchange comes as the three countries are all individually calibrating their approach to Beijing.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken about “natural potential” for cooperation with China in clean energy technologies as he tries to diversify trade away from the US.
However, he has said his government will “proceed carefully” on adjustments to a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles – a move Ottawa made in alignment with Washington last year.
In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum recently delayed proposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Chinese EVs and other imports, amid backlash from her own party and Mexican manufacturers.
And in the US, President Donald Trump has struck an uneasy truce with Beijing, agreeing to pause tariffs and certain export controls in exchange for the relaxation of Chinese controls on rare earths.
Others on Wednesday also pushed for measures to reduce reliance on China
Sarah Stewart, the CEO of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitical think tank, pushed for the creation of a “critical mineral security and resiliency annexe” to reduce internal tariffs among the three countries and shift sourcing away from China.
Meanwhile, Diego Marroquin Bitar, a fellow for the Americas programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank, supported the creation of a joint economic security committee to coordinate investment screening, noting that Mexico lacks such a mechanism, making it harder for the US to reduce reliance on “adversaries”.
Political support for strong economic security measures was also present on Wednesday.
Representative Josh Riley, a Democrat from New York, said the review should focus less on “big multinational corporate interests” and more on American workers who are “hustling harder than they ever have”. He called for rebuilding manufacturing in the US and warned officials not to allow communities in the US heartland, rust belt states and Appalachia to be “sold out” as they reassess the pact.
The USMCA, signed in 2020, is a successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which had governed commerce among Canada, Mexico and the US for more than 26 years.
Mexico and Canada were spared from Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” imposed on most other nations earlier this year – though the two countries still face 25 per cent duties on goods that do not comply with the USMCA, as well as 25 per cent levies on automobile imports.


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US, Mexico and Canada encouraged at US trade hearing to oversee ‘pragmatic and specific plan’ to strengthen economic rules against China


US, Mexico and Canada encouraged at US trade hearing to oversee ‘pragmatic and specific plan’ to strengthen economic rules against China.


USMCA partners urged to form joint economic security mechanism to address China challenge

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US, Mexico and Canada encouraged at US trade hearing to oversee ‘pragmatic and specific plan’ to strengthen economic rules against China

US, Mexico and Canada encouraged at US trade hearing to oversee ‘pragmatic and specific plan’ to strengthen economic rules against China