Kilmer Votes to Support USMCA, Grow Washington Jobs
Washington, DC – Today, Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) voted to support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement following the December 10th announcement of a new trade agreement that incorporates significant changes negotiated by House Democrats for American workers and for the environment.
Rep. Kilmer released the following statement announcing his support for the deal:
“Washington is the most trade-dependent state in the nation – with exports and Washington-made products supporting our economy and hundreds of thousands of jobs. We do better when our communities are better able to export wood products, apples, cherries, airplanes, technology, seafood, Almond Roca, and other “Made in Washington” products. With that in mind, the discussion regarding the rules that govern trade between the United States and our closest neighbors is an important one.
I’ve persistently been critical of NAFTA, the current agreement governing trade between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Under NAFTA, there were no enforceable labor or environmental standards within the agreement. Enforcement – in general – was severely lacking, hurting jobs in America. Beyond that, NAFTA no longer adequately meets the demands of a 21st century economy. For example, NAFTA is an agreement that mentions “telegraphs” but doesn’t mention the internet.
In 2018, President Trump brought Congress what many have called “NAFTA 2.0” – the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). In my opinion, that proposal failed to deliver enough for workers, or for the environment.
In response, House Democrats created a USMCA Working Group to negotiate transformational improvements. That group spent much of the last year working to improve upon the agreement. On top of that, I personally met several times with the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that there were changes to improve labor and environmental standards, prescription drug provisions, and overall enforcement.
Last week, the USMCA Working Group announced that it had secured significant improvements, and a deal was signed quickly thereafter by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The chance to modernize our trade relationship with our North American partners is a major opportunity to bolster our economy, support workers, and grow jobs in our region. The new negotiated deal is significantly stronger than NAFTA and makes major progress in a number of key areas.
The new USMCA strengthens rules on labor enforcements and commitments – including the implementation of a rapid-response labor protection to protect American workers, the creation of stronger rules to protect workers from violence and prosecute labor violations, and the use of new monitoring tools to ensure that Mexico is complying with its labor reforms. As a consequence of these improvements, the revised USMCA was endorsed by the AFL-CIO and other voices on behalf of working Americans.
The new USMCA ensures that the deal recognizes the environments’ connection to trade, allowing for the implementation of stronger, higher-standard rules that are clear and enforceable, and establishing Environment-Focused Attaches in Mexico City that will regularly monitor Mexico’s environmental laws, regulations, and practices. Now, there will be some folks that say that this didn’t go far enough, specifically on climate. And I agree. But the deal is undeniably better than the status quo.
The new USMCA will also have the strongest enforcement mechanisms of any U.S. trade agreement in history – closing enforcement loopholes and streamlining dispute settlement systems to ensure that our trading partners live up to their commitments to labor, environmental, and other fact-intensive disputes.
The opportunity to improve our trade relationships with these critical partners leaves Congress with three choices: 1. To accept the status quo and leave an inadequate NAFTA as is. 2. To have President Trump take America out of NAFTA altogether and leave workers across our region and across the country in peril – no longer able to trade adequately with our neighbors. Or, 3. To improve and support the new USMCA, which – despite some shortcomings – makes undeniable progress for our workers and for our environment.
After securing significant improvements with our partner nations on labor and environmental standards, prescription drug prices, and overall enforcement, I’m choosing to support the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, and I’m choosing to support the creation of more jobs in our region and to sell more Washington-made products around the globe.”
The updated agreement and many of the 21st century economy provisions in USMCA represent a paradigm shift in U.S. trade agreements and should serve as a template for bipartisan consensus in future agreements.
Richard Trumka, the President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) which represents 12.5 million working men and women, announced his support for the agreement, calling USMCA “an agreement that working people can proudly support.” He continued: “For the first time, there truly will be enforceable labor standards—including a process that allows for the inspections of factories and facilities that are not living up to their obligations.”
The updated USMCA:
- Creates certainty in the North American market and between the United States and its two largest trading partners in the wake of destabilizing trade action by the Trump Administration
- Closes enforcement loopholes and streamlines the dispute settlement system, bolstering the strength of the underlying rules in each chapter
- Significantly increases labor standards and makes them more enforceable by establishing an enhanced, rapid-response labor enforcement system to ensure partners live up to the agreement
- Creates a digital trade chapter to allow more American goods and services to reach Mexican and Canadian markets, building a roadmap for future agreements
- Expands agricultural market access, particularly in dairy markets, and improves sanitary and phytosanitary standards
- Includes strong environmental standards and protections that are fully enforceable
Additional details on the initial USMCA can be found on the USTR website section on USMCA and the changes Democrats secured in the USMCA can be found in the House Ways & Means Committee summary and the protocol of amendment to the USMCA.
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