House Dems Call for North America-Wide Minimum Wage in Some Sectors
More than 100 House Democrats asked the U.S. trade representative to make significant changes to USMCA as part of its six-year review, arguing that imports from Mexico and Canada are undermining U.S. autoworkers, steelworkers, aerospace workers and farmers.
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Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a long-time NAFTA skeptic, led the letter, which was released to the public late on Nov. 3.
They asked USTR to push for a higher labor value content standard in the auto sector, "conditioning the USMCA’s benefits for goods and services on workers making a fair wage and enhancing transparency to track wages; establishing a North America-wide minimum wage for manufacturing workers in key sectors," and raising the regional value content rules for autos, airplanes and computers.
"These improvements must also be accompanied by the United States adjusting its Most Favored Nation tariff rates for key manufactured goods, ideally in coordination with Canada and Mexico, to ensure that sufficient enforcement tools exist to deter noncompliance with these rules," they wrote.
The letter also said "the USMCA must be renegotiated to create fair, stable prices for independent family farmers and require market transparency through mandatory country of origin labeling rules for beef, pork, dairy, egg and seafood products."