For some time, leaders within the Democrat-led House had signalled that they were not open to discussing the ratification of USMCA unless the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium (25% and 10% respectively) were removed. But talks between the Democrats and Republican administration restarted last week, culminating with the removing of those metal tariffs on Friday 17 May. This, in turn, saw the removal of retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico on US imports. So is this now the green light for ratification? Possibly, although the main Democrat objections to certain areas of the agreement haven’t gone away. ... (full story)