U.S. Trade Chief to Meet UAW on NAFTA Update

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet tomorrow with United Auto Workers union leaders to tout the tentative update to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Canada, Mexico and the U.S. negotiators agreed last November on terms for the so-called U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement. But the measure must be ratified by Congress to take effect, and observers say the support of labor will be important.

Last November, UAW President Gary Jones declared the deal “not strong enough” and urged the Trump administration to launch a new effort to make it “stronger, tighter and enforceable.”

At the time, Lighthizer declared that “negotiations are not going to be reopened.” Last Friday he described the USMCA as “clearly better” than the 25-year-old NAFTA pact.

The new agreement aims to bolster U.S. auto jobs by raising the local content requirements for duty-free status for cars to 75% local content from the current 62.5%. The accord also would require that 40% of a vehicle’s content by value be produced by workers who are paid at least $16 per hour. Mexico does not meet that level today.