Milling & Baking News - December 5, 2017 - 24

Washington

U.S. remains at loggerheads with
NAFTA partners in November talks
Continued from Page 1

minister, gave a sharp response to Mr.
Lighthizer's assertion Canada and
Mexico weren't negotiating in good
faith.
"We very strongly reject any suggestion that Canada is not approaching the negotiations with goodwill
or in the spirit of compromise," Ms.
Freeland said. "A spirit of goodwill,
though, does not necessitate accepting extreme proposals. One could
say that it is the partner who puts
extreme proposals on the table that is
not negotiating with as much goodwill as one might like."
Negotiators
indicated
they
achieved some progress in agreeing to updated provisions on digital
trade, telecommunications, customs
procedures and health and safety
standards for food.
But there was no agreement on key
Trump administration proposals, including changes to provisions related
to rules of origin of automobiles and
trucks and a sunset clause that would
see NAFTA expire if the parties don't
agree each five years to renew it.
The Trump administration has
proposed raising to 85% from the
current 62.5% the minimum amount
of parts that must be made in one of
the three partner countries in order
for a vehicle to qualify for tariff-free
treatment under NAFTA. Additionally, the Trump administration wants

Canada and Mexico to agree that 50%
of the content of an automobile must
be from the United States.
Ms. Freeland said the proposal that
half the content of an automobile be
from the United States remained a
non-starter.
"We are very clear about the national content idea," Ms. Freeland
told the editorial board of The Toronto
Star. "That is not something Canada

'Thus far, we have seen
no evidence
that Canada
or Mexico
are willing
to seriously
engage on
provisions that
will lead to a rebalanced
agreement.'
- U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer

can accept. It is an unprecedented
proposal."
At the same time, Ms. Freeland indicated Canada may be willing to talk
about the level of regional content required to take advantage of preferential tariff treatment under NAFTA.
"That is an area where we are talking

New rule loosens school lunch
program nutrition requirements
"Schools need flexibility in menu
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Nov. 29 planning so they can serve nutritious
announced a new school meal flex- and appealing meals," Mr. Perdue
ibility rule making targeted
changes to standards for
meals provided under the
U.S.D.A.'s National School
Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. Secretary of
Agriculture Sonny Perdue
said the rule reflects the department's commitment to
work with program operators, school nutrition professionals, industry and other
stakeholders to develop
strategies to ensure school
nutrition standards are both
©WAVEBREAKMEDIAMICRO - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
healthful and practical.
24 / December 5, 2017

Milling & Baking News

and are prepared to talk," Ms. Freeland told Star editors.
Also opposing the rules of origin
proposals were North American automakers, each of which maintains
operations in all three NAFTA countries in what have become highly integrated manufacturing networks.
Leaders of the "Big Three" U.S. automakers, including Mary Barra, chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Co.; Sergio Marchionne,
c.e.o. of Fiat Chrysler; and Joseph
Hinrichs, executive vice-president and
president of global operations at Ford
Motor Co., met with Vice-President
Mike Pence, Ambassador Lighthizer
and Gary Cohn, director of the National
Economic Council, in Washington Sept.
27 to press their case for continuing
NAFTA and not pursuing the changes
to the rules of origins as proposed.
At the Mexico City talks, with regard to the proposed sunset clause,
Mexico, supported by Canada, suggested NAFTA be reviewed every
five years but not automatically expire. Mexico also rejected the U.S. demand that would permit new seasonal restrictions on imports of Mexican
produce, and Canada pushed back
against the Trump administration's
efforts to eliminate certain supply
management practices in the Canadian agriculture sector, primarily dairy.
The sixth round of negotiations
was scheduled for Jan. 23-28, 2018,
in Montreal. In the meantime, lowerlevel negotiators will continue their
work in intersessional meetings in
Washington in December. MBN
said. "Based on the feedback we've
gotten from students, schools and
food service professionals in local
schools across America, it's clear that
many still face challenges incorporating some of the meal pattern requirements. Schools want to offer food that
students actually want to
eat. It doesn't do any good
to serve nutritious meals if
they wind up in the trash
can. These flexibilities give
schools the local control
they need to provide nutritious meals that school children find appetizing."
The interim final rule as
published gives schools
the option to serve low-fat
(1%) flavored milk. Currently, schools are permitted to serve low-fat and
non-fat unflavored milk as
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