Auto Industry Urges Administration to Reconsider USMCA Implementation Date

The following is a joint press release issued on March 13 by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), AIADA, Here for America, and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). For a copy of the published release, click here.

Washington, D.C. March 13, 2020 – “The U.S. automotive industry is committed to the success of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and has been working hard to prepare for its implementation. We therefore are gravely concerned by reports that the Administration is considering setting an entry into force date of June 1, 2020 -- roughly 10 weeks away -- for all elements of the agreement, including the new automotive rules of origin (ROO).

“We are in the midst of a global pandemic that is significantly disrupting our supply chains, and the industry is throwing all available resources into managing production through this crisis for our employees and for the broader US economy. Even if it were reasonable to divert our attention to USMCA compliance, the United States, Canada and Mexico have yet to issue, even in draft form, the uniform automotive rules of origin regulations. Without them, many questions remain unanswered regarding how to interpret the new rules.

“While the industry is doing as much work in advance as they can, once the uniform regulations are available, it will still take an additional period of time to solicit the necessary information throughout the supply-chain to certify that our cars and trucks qualify under USMCA.

“As an industry we remain strongly committed to working with the Administration to ensure that the implementation of the USMCA auto provisions are a success. We therefore ask that entry into force of the uniform automotive ROO regulations occur after an adequate adjustment period is provided.”