On March 18, 2020, the U.S. and Canadian governments announced the closure of the international border to nonessential travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An announcement of the border closure was published in the Federal Register on March 24, 2020, in which the Department of Homeland Security noted that, consistent with the President’s declaration of a national emergency, the spread of COVID-19 within the U.S. posed a “specific threat to human life or national interests,” justifying the travel restrictions under 19 U.S.C. § 1318. The initial closure was scheduled to expire on April 20, 2020, but was extended for an additional month, or until 11:59 PM EDT on May 20, 2020. The notice extending the travel restrictions was published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2020. Read More
President Trump signed the USMCA into law on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, completing the process of U.S. ratification of the agreement and moving it one step closer to replacing NAFTA. With Mexico already having ratified the USMCA, Canada is the only signatory country whose legislature has yet to act. It is expected that Canadian ratification of the USMCA will be completed in Spring 2020, but with the liberal party no longer holding a majority in the House of Commons, Canadian ratification of the USMCA will require bipartisan support, which may delay implementation of the new treaty. Read More
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was signed on November 30, 2018 and now must be ratified by Congress before the agreement can take effect. Until the USMCA is ratified, NAFTA will…