ZCZC
BCN-03
US-MEXICO-TRADE-LABOR-CANADA
Mexico rejects bid in US Congress to impose trade-pact inspectors
MEXICO CITY, Dec 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Mexico rejected on Saturday an
attempt in the US Congress that would send American inspectors into Mexican
factories to ensure they respect labor protections provided by the new North
American trade pact.
As part of US ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA), Democrats in Congress proposed designating up to five American labor
attaches to monitor compliance in Mexico.
The Senate in Mexico City ratified the trade pact on Thursday, after more
than two years of arduous negotiations with Washington and Ottawa.
Jesus Seade, the chief Mexican trade negotiator on the accord, told
reporters Saturday that while most of the proposed US legislation was in line
with expectations, the proposal for labor inspectors was not part of the
agreement the three countries signed in Mexico City last Tuesday.
“For evident reasons,” he said, Mexico was not consulted about that
provision.
Seade, Mexico’s Undersecretary for North America, said he had raised the
matter with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and would travel to
Washington on Sunday to consult with members of Congress.
Under Mexican law, he said, American officials “can in no case have
inspection powers” in Mexico.
The new pact, which replaces the 25-year-old North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), was first signed in November 2018.
But it soon bogged down in political complications, particularly in the
United States, where Democrats questioned whether it would really force
Mexico to deliver on labor reforms meant to level the playing field between
lower-wage Mexican workers and their better-paid American counterparts.
After additional talks, the pact signed on Tuesday includes tougher
enforcement of labor provisions. Changes include a minimum-wage requirement
for workers in the automotive industry, to be phased in over five years.
The additions won the blessing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat
needed to move the agreement forward in Congress, as well as the largest US
labor federation, the AFL-CIO.
US negotiators originally proposed sending inspectors to monitor Mexican
compliance, but the Mexican government rejected that approach. Instead, the
three countries agreed to create mediation panels to resolve any complaints.
US President Donald Trump, who triggered the trade pact’s renegotiation in
2017, argued that NAFTA was a “disaster” for American workers.
BSS/AFP/HR/0920