U.S., Mexico Reach Agreement in Principle on Cement Imports
In what could be a breakthrough in a 16-year-long trade dispute, the U.S. and Mexico announced on Jan. 19 that they had reached an agreement in principle on levels of cement imports and duties on those shipments .
The Commerce Dept., which announced the development Jan. 19, said that if the two sides can strike a final deal, it wold extend for three years and cap imports of gray Portland cement from Mexico at 3 million metric tons to the U.S. southern tier. In 2005, U.S. imports of Mexican cement totaled 1.8 million metric tons.