RE: Ganfeng now owns 100%9 Aug 2022 15:25
JimB,
In short no Sonoran Lithium would always have been includeable in any trade agreement Mexico has with another country (so also under GSP or any FTA.
In more detail ... USMCA is a free trade agreement providing beneficial rates of duties on 'qualifying' goods' traded between U.S. Canada & Mexico (replaced NAFTA = North American Free Trade Agreement).
To qualify for preferential duty treatment goods traded between the 3 participants must satisfy the rules of Origin & at a basic level to 'automatically qualify' goods must be mined, born, grown or caught in the territorial waters of the exporting country so Sonoran Lithium as a commodity would always have qualified .... on manufactured goods the rules can get quite demanding as manufactured goods often contain goods imported from other 3rd countries (i.e. goods other than U.S /CA /MX) so percentage rules on the permissible limits/quantities have to be calculated to maintain preferential treatment.
These qualification rules apply regardless of the FTA/preference scheme so are not unique to USMCA ... Trade agreements also refer to other rights / activities (such as the labour one in the link)