La Jornada: US Coalition requests modifications to the T-MEC

Washington and New York. A powerful coalition representing millions of members; Democratic lawmakers, national auto and steel unions, and consumer advocacy organizations announced that they will oppose any renewal of the USMCA if it does not include substantial modifications, including greater labor protections in the three countries and measures to prevent China from using Mexico and Canada to export to the United States.

“Today, President Trump is in China literally with a plane full of oligarchs looking to get richer,” charged Lori Wallach, director of ReThink Trade and an influential trade analyst who helped formulate the legislative resolution.

“Too many of Trump’s trade policies have been about oligarchs first,” adding that over the past few years, the trade policies of both Democratic and Republican administrations have benefited big business while hurting workers.

The “Fair Trade Resolution for Working Families,” formally introduced in the House yesterday, kicked off with 25 sponsoring legislators and the support of unions and consumer organizations representing millions of members in the United States.

“For more than 40 years, flawed U.S. trade policy has enriched corporate interests at the expense of workers, consumers, small businesses, farmers and our environment,” said Rep. Rosa De-Lauro, who drafted the resolution.

“When you visit my district, you see steel plants closed, auto plants closed,” explained Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan. “For too long, trade policies in this country have been made by big business.”

Tariffs don’t help workers

He noted that Trump campaigned recognizing this same problem, but indicated, now as president, his tariffs are not benefiting working people and have not created a fairer international economy for workers.

“The USMCA needs to be renegotiated, period,” Dingell emphasized. “And we are going to make sure that China does not locate itself in Mexico or Canada to say that its products are North American,” underscoring the concern that China could impact US employment.

DeLauro added that although the rapid response mechanism within the USMCA has helped strengthen independent unions in Mexico, it needs to be strengthened.

The 10 points of a USMCA reform proposed today largely repeat previous efforts that include greater rights for unions and environmental protections, demands that US trade policy focus on supporting employment in the United States, and specific measures on the trade of medicines, agricultural products and a call to develop “barriers” against moving jobs abroad through Artificial Intelligence.

The representative of the UAW automotive union, Rajiv Sicora, declared that they will seek to mobilize the more than one million of their members in support of this resolution and threatened any legislator who dares not to sponsor this initiative that the union will not support his re-election. The USWA steel union, as the consumer protection organization with its million members, pledged to do the same.