{"text":[[{"start":9.8,"text":"The US is proposing strict new rules aimed at squeezing Chinese parts out of North America’s cars in bruising trade talks with Mexico."}],[{"start":18.65,"text":"As part of the proposals, Donald Trump’s administration is demanding that more car parts — including electronics, which are typically imported from China — be sourced in North America for the fully assembled vehicle to qualify for duty-free treatment, said people familiar with the talks."}],[{"start":34.7,"text":"That would make it harder for carmakers to import parts from China while also claiming duty-free treatment for vehicles under a trade agreement that aims to reward companies for building them in the US, Mexico or Canada."}],[{"start":47.45,"text":"The talks come as the three countries look set to miss a July 1 deadline for deciding whether to renew the 2020 USMCA trade agreement for 16 years or enter into annual reviews."}],[{"start":59.550000000000004,"text":"The negotiations follow a tumultuous year and a half for relations between Mexico City, Ottawa and Washington after Trump launched a trade broadside at both US neighbours over their alleged role in fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration."}],[{"start":74.10000000000001,"text":"The US president has also hit imports of steel and aluminium from both trading partners with duties of 50 per cent by using a trade law designed to protect American national security."}],[{"start":85.30000000000001,"text":"Despite the looming deadline, people familiar with the talks said the three sides were unlikely to reach any kind of agreement for at least several months. Mexican and US officials met in Mexico City last month and are due to hold talks throughout the summer, while formal negotiations with Canada have yet to begin."}],[{"start":103.85000000000001,"text":"Continued uncertainty over the outcome of the USMCA deal will probably prolong depressed investment in Mexico and Canada. One US business figure said they were hoping for an “interim deal . . . if talks are going to drag on beyond July 1”."}],[{"start":119.60000000000001,"text":"Washington’s new proposals could reshape the North American car sector — which produces some 15mn vehicles a year — with Mexico and Canada hoping to benefit from the US decoupling from China. "}],[{"start":131.15,"text":"The US has proposed including more car parts in a ‘core’ category that requires an extremely high level of regional content, two people familiar with the talks said. "}],[{"start":140.6,"text":"Alongside its proposals for more stringent rules on car parts, Washington wants to raise the level of regional content in each vehicle from the current 75 per cent to more than 80 per cent. It is also pushing to raise the proportion made in the US as high as 50 per cent per car, much higher than current such exports, said three people familiar with the matter. The detail was first reported in the Wall Street Journal."}],[{"start":165.4,"text":"But one person familiar with the talks cautioned that Trump made identical demands when first negotiating the USMCA deal in 2020, but they failed to reach the final version of the agreement."}],[{"start":176.70000000000002,"text":"The US trade representative’s office declined to comment on the substance of the talks. Mexico’s government declined to comment."}],[{"start":184.4,"text":"Mexico has been one of the main beneficiaries of Trump’s tariffs on China, becoming the biggest US trade partner in 2023. But US lawmakers and trade experts have increasingly accused their southern neighbour of acting as a “back door” for China, allowing it to circumvent American trade restrictions."}],[{"start":202.45000000000002,"text":"Mexico’s government has cracked down on its own Chinese imports, imposing large tariffs on goods such as cars and announcing an investment screening mechanism while encouraging local manufacturing."}],[{"start":213.20000000000002,"text":"Trump has also explicitly linked the trade agenda to security, pushing Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum to take stronger action against drug cartels and repeatedly asking to allow the US military to operate directly in the country. "}],[{"start":227.9,"text":"Sheinbaum, who has been praised for her “cool-headed” strategy to placate Trump, became more combative in the past week in response to US indictments of officials from her party, including a sitting governor."}],[{"start":240.65,"text":"North America’s economy has become deeply integrated since the original North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) came into force in 1994. The car sector became a symbol of that interdependency, with parts moving across borders multiple times, but the model came under strain as the US lost manufacturing jobs."}],[{"start":261.55,"text":"Trump made changes to the deal when it was renegotiated in his first term, adding stricter rules on labour and regional content, but has since openly mused about ending it completely. Investors in Mexico say the deal is crucial for providing stability and certainty in the country."}],[{"start":278.35,"text":"Most observers of the talks say a return to entirely tariff-free trade is highly unlikely, and that Mexico and Canada will have to accept some level of restrictions on transactions with the US."}],[{"start":297.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780874468_9192.mp3"}