Senator Rob Portman,
a Republican from Ohio and a former U.S. Trade Representative, took to the floor of the Senate this past Tuesday to talk about USMCA, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He didn’t just touch on the irony surrounding the politics of this agreement, he expounded on it. That irony lies in the fact that so many Democrats have argued against NAFTA for so long, urging corrections like many of those in the USMCA. And yet there are many Democrats who seem poised to vote against USMCA. If they do, they will, in effect, be voting for NAFTA.
As one would have expected, Senator Portman went through what by now should be a familiar list of the benefits to be expected from replacing NAFTA with USMCA. They include the provisions relating to the digital economy, expanded market access for certain products, a projected 176,000 new jobs, and the crucial reminder that, taken together, Canada and Mexico are by far America’s largest export market.
For today’s entry, however, we are going to focus on the parts of Senator Portman’s presentation that explained his contention that a vote against USMCA would be a vote for NAFTA, including his comments on labor and environment.
Regarding those latter two issues, Senator Portman said:
“…Labor and environmental standards. Not only are the standards stronger [under USMCA], but they’re enforceable under this agreement. They are not enforceable under NAFTA.”
The labor issue is of course more than just Mexico’s labor laws, though they are certainly part of the picture. There is also, for example, the USMCA requirement that “40 to 45 percent of a USMCA vehicle made in Mexico or anywhere in North America must be produced by workers making at least $16 an hour.” That was an issue Senator Portman discussed at some length.
Regarding the aforementioned irony, he said:
“I must tell you I am surprised, even amazed to see so many of my Democratic colleagues not stand up to support this agreement, because it has all these things that they said that they have wanted over the years, and they certainly don’t like NAFTA.
“Many of them have campaigned against NAFTA for the past 25 years. In a way, if you vote against USMCA, you know what you’re stuck with -- NAFTA. So in a way you’re voting for NAFTA if you vote against USMCA.”