U.S., MEXICO HOLD HIGH-LEVEL ECON TALKS: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hosted Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena and Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro on Friday at this year’s U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue. During the summit, Blinken touted a new joint action plan on semiconductors, as well as efforts to improve wait times for goods crossing the border and address the root causes of soaring migration. The exchanges come as Washington moves to reduce dependency on adversarial nations like China on critical technology. Reminder: President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador relaunched the bilateral forum in 2021 to advance shared strategic economic and commercial priorities in areas that include the deployment of advanced technologies and regulatory compatibility and risk mitigation in sectors such as information and communication technologies, networks, cybersecurity, telecom and infrastructure. Talks continued: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Blinken are traveling to Mexico this week for a high-level security dialogue, which a senior administration official said would set “the scaffolding” for economic and security cooperation between the countries. Keep in mind: Mexico recently eclipsed China as the largest U.S. trading partner, last year exchanging an all time high of more than $860 billion in goods and services. The meeting comes after USTR escalated its objections to Mexico’s curbs on genetically modified corn. Washington has also consistently argued that Mexico's protectionist energy policies discriminate against foreign companies. No backing down: Mexico has a three-pronged strategy for reducing imports of genetically-modified yellow corn from the United States, Víctor Suárez Carrera, Mexican undersecretary for agriculture, said in a newly published interview with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The strategy includes encouraging more production of non-GM yellow corn in Mexico; encouraging more production of vegetables, such as the cassava tuber and fodder beets, that can replace corn in animal feed; and encouraging Mexican buyers to sign contracts to buy non-GM corn from the United States instead of GM corn, he said. Not hot and bothered: Suárez Carrera downplayed the recent U.S. request for a dispute settlement panel to determine whether López Obrador’s biotech corn policies violate Mexico’s commitments under the USMCA. “Mexico … will demonstrate that the decree has not caused significant losses to U.S. exporters because it does not restrict imports, only the use of GM corn in masa and tortillas,” Suárez Carrera said. “And it will demonstrate that scientific studies point to health and environmental risks for a country with such a diversity of corn and such a high consumption of minimally-processed corn. We have the right to protect public health and the environment.” GOP CALLS FOR TARIFF FRAUD PROBE: Members of the House Select Committee on China are urging Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to investigate a Chinese auto-parts maker in the latest signal of rising pressure in Washington to clamp down on China’s prevalence in the auto industry. “Reviews of Qingdao Sunsong’s public disclosures lay out a case of blatant trade fraud that is having a catastrophic impact on American manufacturers,” wrote Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) and Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.). "We respectfully request that you provide the Select Committee with a briefing on how the Department is investigating and seeking redress from these perpetrators as soon as possible but no later than October 13, 2023.” The lawmakers accused manufacturer Qingdao Sunsong of rerouting shipments of rubber-hose products through Thailand in order to skirt a 25 percent tariff imposed on its U.S. unit. “One American company has been compelled to accumulate significant debt, divest itself of two business divisions and most recently lay off one-quarter of its workforce due to Sunsong’s trade fraud,” the pair added, without identifying the firm. Part of a trend: Ford Motor Company announced last week that it had paused its partnership, after the chairs of three House committees demanded it turn over documents related to its relationship with the Chinese battery company CATL. Meanwhile: The United Auto Workers union blasted the decision as a “barely-veiled threat” to cut jobs during their ongoing strike against the Big Three automakers. Ford is scaling back electric vehicle production plans as sales growth stagnates. | 
