{"id":6274,"date":"2025-06-12T09:17:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/?p=6274"},"modified":"2025-11-04T11:27:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T16:27:32","slug":"labor-civil-society-groups-detail-shared-priorities-for-the-usmca-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/blog\/2025\/06\/12\/labor-civil-society-groups-detail-shared-priorities-for-the-usmca-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor & Civil Society Groups Detail Shared Priorities for the USMCA Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: In November 2025, nearly 40,000 individuals sent similar comments to the Trump administration as part of the USMCA review public comment period.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the mandatory, six-year review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal approaches, hundreds of labor and civil society organizations across the United States have written to the Trump administration with shared views on the significant changes needed for the pact to benefit working families and communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood-paying jobs continue to pour out of the United States under President Trump\u2019s USMCA trade deal,\u201d said Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, the coalition of labor, environmental, family farm, faith and consumer organizations that organized the letter. \u00a0\u201cThe upcoming USMCA review is a chance to fix the USMCA\u2019s significant problems or to get out of the pact altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n

The USMCA is President Donald J. Trump\u2019s revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) from his first term in office. \u00a0At the time, Trump called the USMCA \u201cthe greatest trade deal ever,\u201d but the U.S. trade deficit has increased under the USMCA relative to the original NAFTA.<\/p>\n

The USMCA contains provisions requiring the three governments to review the pact at six years, at which point countries can suggest possible amendments to the agreement. \u00a0Chapter-specific reviews of the labor and environment chapter are to take place during the fifth year of the agreement, which begins on July 1, 2025.<\/p>\n

The 683-group letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer details changes needed to those and other chapters of the USMCA in order to end the offshoring of good-paying jobs; raise wages across the region; strengthen rural communities; address root causes of migration and displacement; stop abuses by Big Tech; shut down special rights for foreign investors; and make medicine more affordable.<\/p>\n

The letter also urges the nation\u2019s top trade official to adopt a transparent and participatory process for the USMCA review.<\/p>\n

Signers on the letter include the American Federation of Teachers, American Sustainable Business Network, Communications Workers of America, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, League of Conservation Voters, National Consumers League, National Family Farm Coalition, National Organization for Women, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, Trade Justice Education Fund, United Auto Workers (UAW), United Church of Christ, United Steelworkers (USW) and hundreds of others.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0PDF with the complete list of signers is available here<\/a>\u00a0and the text of the letter is below:<\/p>\n

Dear U.S. Trade Representative Greer:<\/em><\/p>\n

As the mandatory, once-every-six-years review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) approaches, our organizations are painfully aware that the 2020 revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has not delivered its promised gains for American workers, family farmers and communities nationwide.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A successful USMCA review process must result in significant changes to the agreement so that it benefits working families and contributes to the development of a resilient and fair economy in the United States and across North America.\u00a0\u00a0If these needed changes cannot be secured, the United States should not only refuse to extend the agreement\u2019s term beyond its current 2036\u00a0<\/strong>expiration, but should instead withdraw from the USMCA altogether.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the time of the USMCA\u2019s establishment, President Trump told the nation that the pact would bring \u201cjobs pouring into the United States,\u201d be \u201can especially great victory for our farmers,\u201d and provide other concrete benefits to the American people.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico and Canada has skyrocketed under the USMCA; corporations continue to offshore good-paying American jobs to Mexico where workers\u2019 labor rights are still violated and wages remain a pittance; and vital American economic sectors from autos to steel to aerospace to agriculture are being undermined by surging USMCA imports.<\/em><\/p>\n

In our view, a successful USMCA review process must result in renegotiation of key terms to:<\/em><\/p>\n