Honeywell International proposed establishing trilateral monitoring for strategic materials in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The company focuses on advanced technology and manufacturing, is headquartered in the United States, and has annual sales of approximately $40 billion.
Monitoring for strategic materials
The company’s operations are carried out through four business groups: Aerospace Technologies; Energy and Sustainability Solutions; Industrial Automation; and Building Automation.
The USMCA’s rules of origin seek to ensure that the benefits of tariff elimination reach North American producers.
Honeywell supports closer cooperation within the treaty’s Competitiveness Committee. It also promotes collaboration between customs authorities to share information and harmonize risk management systems.
“We also support the creation of a trilateral monitoring framework for strategic materials, such as critical minerals, a measure that can deter tariff circumvention while preserving efficient trade in compliant products,” the company said in a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).
Rules of origin
Honeywell supports the creation of mechanisms that promote regional sourcing and reduce dependence on inputs from outside North America. Among the proposals is proportional tariff treatment for products that do not meet all USMCA qualification thresholds.
Any measures in this regard, the company warns, must be implemented with sufficient time. This would allow manufacturers to adjust their supply chains, requalify components, and ensure compliance without affecting production or deliveries.
A gradual and planned approach, Honeywell argues, would strengthen the integrity of the North American supply chain. It would also provide the predictability and clarity needed to maintain investment and protect jobs.
In many of its products—from avionics to process control systems—component traceability is already an essential quality and safety requirement. That is why the company is promoting risk- and data-based customs control. This model, it says, would preserve the integrity of the Agreement without adding administrative burdens to manufacturers who comply with the rules.