House Democrats are demanding that President Trump’s U.S. Mexican-Canada Agreement on trade include a provision banning imports from Mexican factories that violate labor rights terms, which they say is a critical enforcement mechanism.
A proposal being pushed by Democrats would essentially blacklist Mexican factories that are found to have violated labor rights, either by prohibiting the importation of products they make or by denying them the preferred status given to other products under USMCA. The specifics are still being negotiated.
“That is very much under discussion,” Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro told Capitol Hill staffers at a briefing Wednesday. DeLauro, a Democrat, is one of the nine-member “working group” of lawmakers tasked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with finding a compromise on USMCA with the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office. “Talks would even be happening if it wasn’t.”
Other Democrats say it is being pushed but were more skeptical that it would make its way into the trade deal. “Everything is under discussion,” said Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, a member of the working group.
The White House and Democrats have been negotiating for months on a possible floor vote for the trade deal, which would replace the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. The process has taken so long that many Republicans are arguing that the odds for a vote this year are fading. Democrats have said they will not be rushed.
“We are moving with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, making progress every day,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday. “I’m optimistic that we are still on a path to yes, and that … we will come to conclusion soon on that.”
A key issue holding up a vote is the Democrats’ insistence for tighter enforcement of the deal labor provisions. Democrats say Mexico has long had a corrupt labor system, and newly-elected Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s vows to clean up the system were not sufficient. DeLauro noted that during a recent trip to Mexico, a congressional delegation was denied entry to a Goodyear tire factory.
Only half of the funds needed in Mexico to enforce the USMCA, for hiring more judges and building up other legal infrastructure, would come from Obrador’s administration. The rest would have to be contributed by the individual Mexican states, most of which are still controlled by the opposition party.
Under most versions of the compromise USMCA deal being considered, the U.S. Labor Department would also be involved investigating and monitoring Mexican factories.
