Mexico’s new minimum wage may not be enough for Democrats cool on trade deal

Published December 26, 2018 11:02pm ET



Mexico has increased the minimum wage for its workers, but that may not be enough to satisfy Democrats who wanted more extensive reforms in that country before they support President Trump’s U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade agreement.

Effective Jan. 1, Mexico’s minimum wage will rise to the equivalent of about $5 a day, compared with $7.25 an hour in the U.S. In certain northern border regions, the rate will be $9 a day. However, the USMCA deal, which would replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement, stipulates that at least 40 percent of factory workers involved in auto components must make $16 an hour. Mexico’s announcement of its new wage rates makes no mention of auto wages or any rate that high.

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