The USMCA implementing bill language was sent to Congress on Friday, December 13, which establishes the Trade Promotion Authority timeframes for Congressional consideration.  Under the Trade Promotion Authority law, the House must vote on an implementing bill within 60 days of its submission to Congress by the Administration.

It looks like the House will vote on the USMCA on Thursday, December 19, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the Senate vote on the USMCA will come after the Senate’s impeachment trial, which is to be held in January.

Attached are the sugar-related provisions of the USMCA.

Under the USMCA, Canada has the same access for refined sugar and sugar-containing products as it would have enjoyed under the now defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Canada will get new TRQs allowing the shipment of:

  • 9,600 metric tons of refined sugar, which must be made from Canadian sugar beets
  • 9,600 metric tons of SCP’s with no restrictions on end use
  • 20% of any increase in the U.S. refined TRQ above the WTO minimum (not counting specialty sugar), which may be refined in Canada from non-originating raw sugar

Canada’s automatic 20% of any refined TRQ increase does not interact with the U.S.-Mexico suspension agreements, since the suspension agreements are not considered “trade agreements” per se (the suspension agreements are considered “trade remedies”).

So an increase in U.S. Needs (and hence an increase in Mexico’s market access) would not trigger any entitlement for Canada.

The new refined and SCP TRQs will be on a calendar-year basis like those in other free trade agreements.

The USCMA also codifies Canada’s existing WTO refined sugar TRQ and WTO SCP TRQ, which Canada had under a 1997 letter agreement.

  • The current 10,300 metric tons of its U.S. WTO refined sugar TRQ, which Canada may ship against the first-come, first-served portion of this TRQ, and 
  • 59,250 metric tons of the U.S. WTO SCP TRQ

USMCA means that Canada will now have a U.S. quota of 19,900 metric tons of refined sugar from Canadian sugar beets.