The Dallas Morning News on Sunday does its own story on the anniversary of Mexico’s tariffs retaliating against the United States for violating NAFTA, also reporting on Brazil’s WTO-sanctioned tariffs retaliating against the U.S. cotton program, “Companies caught in the middle of U.S.-Mexico trucking dispute“:

“We have heard from American exporters,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Tuesday. “We understand the sense of urgency. We will work as quickly as we can to see if we can’t come up with an acceptable solution.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has assured exporters that he’s hopeful a deal can be reached soon. But he said the same thing a year ago.

“We have not yet floated any proposals with Mexico and look forward to consulting with members of Congress,” the department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Thursday in a statement.

The Mexican embassy in Washington issued a news release last week:

We continue to seek every opportunity for dialogue and engagement with the Administration and Congress on this issue, and we urge the former to come forward with a specific proposal to resolve the cross-border trucking impasse.

In the meantime, Mexico will continue to exercise all legal means available to achieve full compliance by the United States with its commitments under the NAFTA. The safety of Mexican carriers and drivers operating in the United States has been well documented by an Independent Evaluation Panel, the Inspector General of the U.S. DOT and the Congressional Research Service. Mexico is the United States’ second-largest export market and the second largest buyer of US exports. It remains a steadfast supporter of free and fair trade, and will continue to work actively and responsibly with Congress and the Administration to find a solution.

The Morning News story highlights the impact of the Mexican and Brazilian tariffs on Texas-based Mary Kay, the personal care products company that has paid $5.4 million in Mexican tariffs over the last year.

As for the Brazilian retaliation…

• Bloomberg, “Brazil Raises Tariffs on U.S. Goods, to Break Patents“
• Capital Press, “Brazilian tariffs could stall exports,” reporting on the consequences to the ag sector.
• The Economist, “Picking a Fight“

Here’s the list of U.S. products and tariff percentages applied by Brazil, from the Brazilian Embassy. We’ll also put the list in the extended entry section below.

Robert Samuelson, writing in The Washington Post, “Obama’s Tire Tariff: Bad Policy, Right Message“:

Tit-for-tat retaliation could ignite a global trade war. If United States and China do it, why shouldn’t everyone else? Limits on tires, auto parts, chicken — or whatever — might inspire similar measures from other countries to prevent diversion of goods into their markets. Flirting with protectionism is dangerous. Announcing the tariffs shortly before Thursday’s economic summit of G-20 countries in Pittsburgh makes the predictable pious anti-protectionist pronouncements even less believable.

But tolerating China’s predatory trade practices is also dangerous. China’s cheap exports reflect more than low wages. Government actively promotes and subsidizes exports, especially through a deliberately undervalued currency. The undervaluation lowers the prices of Chinese goods. Economist Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute figures the present price advantage at 15 to 20 percent. It might be more. Economist Eswar Prasad of Cornell University argues that cheap credit and subsidized land and energy enhance the price competitiveness of Chinese exports.

It’s a paradox, Samuelson writes: Tariffs as protectionism are bad policy. But in this case, the message they send to China is the right one: Cease and desist.

That’s a thoughtful analysis. Still, until the Administration starts enacting pro-trade policies — to correlate with all the pro-trade speeches — it’s difficult to distinguish between a discrete, tactical message and  nascent protectionism.

An unofficial list of goods that the Mexican government has applied new tariffs on in retaliation to Congress passing and President Obama signing the omnibus appropriations bill that ended a Mexican cross-border trucking program.

Most of the charges range from 10 to 20 percent. The notable exception is 45 percent applied to fresh grapes.

Many, many manufactured goods are included in the list. For example:

• Manicure or pedicure preparations
• Shampoos
• Hair lacquers
• Other preparations for use on the hair
• Dentrifrices
• Filament nylon yarn used to clean between the teeth (dental floss)
• Other yarn used to clean between the teeth (dental floss)
• Other preparations for oral or dental hygiene, including denture fixative pastes and powder; in individual retail packages
• Pre‐shave, shaving or after‐shave preparations
• Personal deodorants and antiperspirants
• Tableware and kitchenware, of plastics
• Other household articles and toilet articles, of plastics
• Statuettes and other ornamental articles
• Self‐copy paper
• Toilet paper
• Notebooks (exercise books)
• Other printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, whether or not in singles sheets
• Other trade advertising materials

Earlier posts:

• No Surprise: Mexico Slaps Tariffs on U.S. Goods Over Truck Dispute
• Just a Little Protectionism? Then Comes the Escalation
• Por Favor, Mexico: Reinventing the Border Truck Program