Baldwin Leads Colleagues Urging Trump Admin to Keep American Workers at Center of U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Negotiations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) led 14 of her Senate colleagues in urging the Trump Administration to prioritize American workers during the review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and stand up to China. The lawmakers laid out a comprehensive plan and called on the Trump Administration to address the offshoring of American jobs, stop China from undermining U.S. businesses and consumers, hold Mexico accountable for enforcing labor laws, and stop China’s growing investment in Mexico that undercuts American workers.

“USMCA, negotiated by the first Trump Administration in partnership with Congress, took important steps to provide market stability and strengthen labor standards. These standards must be viewed as a floor, not a ceiling,” wrote the Senators in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. “There are urgent issues that must be addressed during the upcoming review in order to ensure workers benefit as promised. We stand ready to work together to support American workers, manufacturing, and the domestic economy.”

“We urge you to keep American workers at the center of this Agreement, as well as ensure their seat at the table now, throughout the joint review, and in the future,” the Senators continued.

The letter was led by Senator Baldwin and co-signed by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

In the letter, Senator Baldwin and her colleagues outlined how any revised agreement must benefit workers, including addressing offshoring, protecting workers’ rights, and ensuring North American manufacturing is protected from increased Chinese investment and integration into our supply chains, which threatens American workers and businesses. Specifically, the lawmakers called on the Administration to:

• Address Offshoring: USMCA must have strong provisions to prohibit and prevent offshoring, as well as concrete plans to work with Mexico to increase wages and labor standards to discourage offshoring in the first place.
• Address Increased Chinese Investment in Mexico: Companies based in the People’s Republic of China are setting up shop in Mexico to take advantage of the preferential trade treatment afforded by USMCA and circumvent U.S. trade laws. The Senators called for this loophole to be closed to prevent its use as a backdoor to the North American economy by third party actors, particularly our adversaries.
• Address Chinese Expansion into North American Supply Chains: To boost North American manufacturing, USMCA included stronger rules on countries of origin to secure supply chains and prevent outsourcing in key sectors like automobiles. The Senators demanded that we strengthen and expand these standards to ensure that parts in these sectors are made in North America and cover new advanced technologies.
• Ensure Mexico Fully Enforces Its Labor Laws: An independent review found in 2025 that Mexico is not in compliance with its labor obligations under the USMCA, including the core obligation to effectively enforce its new labor laws to ensure workers are able to organize independent unions free from coercion and employer intimidation. This has contributed to a persistent wage gap with American workers that leads to offshoring. The Senators called on the Administration to prioritize this fundamental enforcement issue during the joint review to ensure a level playing field for American workers.
• Ensure Rapid Response Mechanism Functions Well for Workers: The lawmakers urged that USMCA’s innovative Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), which has resulted in increased wages and organizing rights for workers in Mexico, be prioritized during the joint review.
• Robustly Fund the Bureau of International Labor Affairs: The Bureau of International Labor Affairs plays a critical role in combatting forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking abroad. The Senators urged the Administration to work with Congress to provide ILAB with the resources it needs to ensure enforcement of labor standards in the USMCA.
• Fully Enforce Forced Labor Ban: The lawmakers called on the Trump Administration to identify concrete actions all three parties can take to improve enforcement of existing forced labor bans, including regular public reporting on enforcement data and protocols to share intelligence underpinning enforcement actions.

Last year, Senator Baldwin led her colleagues in laying out a vision to prioritize American workers in trade policy, re-establish the United States as a world leader in manufacturing, and strengthen national security.

A full version of this letter is available here and below.

Dear Ambassador Greer:

We write regarding the upcoming joint review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to insist that any revised agreement must deliver meaningful and measurable gains for American workers. USMCA, negotiated by the first Trump Administration in partnership with Congress, took important steps to provide market stability and strengthen labor standards. These standards must be viewed as a floor, not a ceiling. There are urgent issues that must be addressed during the upcoming review in order to ensure workers benefit as promised. We stand ready to work together to support American workers, manufacturing, and the domestic economy.

While the USMCA was an improvement over its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which contributed to the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs and the hollowing out of communities across the country, it has not gone far enough to level the playing field and stop the global race to the bottom. Both Canada and Mexico are not in compliance with key commitments under USMCA’s labor chapter. Additionally, new challenges have arisen since the Agreement was drafted and entered into force, such as the presence of Chinese investment in Mexico.

We appreciate your statement in your December 2025 testimony before Congress that “a rubber stamp of the Agreement is not in the national interest.” In that spirit, we urge you to use the joint review to lift all boats by ensuring that both Canada and Mexico fully comply with their labor commitments. Specifically, the U.S must use the USMCA joint review process to tackle the following priorities:

• Address Offshoring: The continued offshoring of good manufacturing jobs is an existential threat to American workers and the communities they support. USMCA has not reversed this decades-long trend of companies closing U.S facilities to seek lower wages and environmental standards in Mexico. With workers in the Mexican automotive and electronics manufacturing sectors still only earning $3 to $5 per hour and Mexican manufacturing worker pay lower than in China, U.S. companies continue to offshore at alarming rates and use the threat of offshoring to depress U.S. wages. USMCA must have strong provisions to prohibit and prevent offshoring, as well as concrete plans to work with Mexico to increase wages and labor standards to discourage offshoring in the first place, including consideration of a North American manufacturing wage floor.

• Ensure Mexico Fully Enforces Its Labor Laws: Under the USMCA, Mexico agreed to implement critical and comprehensive labor law reforms to protect workers’ rights, including their rights to organize independent trade unions and bargain for fair compensation. However, the congressionally-authorized Independent Mexico Labor Expert Board (IMLEB) concluded in 2025 that Mexico is not in compliance with its labor obligations under the USMCA, including the core obligation to effectively enforce its new labor laws. The persistent use of unfair labor practices and stall tactics by employers in Mexico, as evidenced by numerous facility-specific Rapid Response Mechanism cases, demonstrates the urgent need for Mexico to fully implement and enforce its labor laws, and we encourage USTR to leverage the joint review to ensure full compliance. We are particularly concerned over the failure of Mexico’s enforcement bodies to issue and collect fines against employers who violate workers’ rights. Mexico’s failure to fully enforce its labor laws has both harmed Mexican workers and contributed to a persistent wage gap with American workers that leads to offshoring. We call on the Administration to prioritize this fundamental enforcement issue during the joint review to ensure a level playing field for American workers.

• Ensure Rapid Response Mechanism Functions Well for Workers: USMCA’s innovative Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) has resulted in wins for workers in Mexico such as increased wages and reinstatement of workers fired for union activity. We support efforts in the joint review to make the RRM more accessible, transparent, and efficient for workers, as well as addressing the delays in cases that proceed to the panel phase. We note the RRM is intended to address facility-specific violations and cannot substitute for comprehensive enforcement of Mexico’s labor laws at the national level. However, the RRM is a critical tool for workers in Mexico, and improvements should be prioritized during the joint review.

• Robustly Fund the Bureau of International Labor Affairs: Activities funded through the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) play a critical role in support USTR’s efforts around the world to enforce labor provisions in our trade agreements, as well as combat forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking abroad, and provide funding for technical assistance to raise labor standards in global supply chains. Recognizing the importance of ILAB programs, implementing legislation for USMCA included $180 million over four years for technical assistance projects related to the Agreement, and $30 million over eight years for ILAB to monitor USMCA compliance. ILAB-funded programs have helped workers form independent unions in Mexico to enforce labor rights in USMCA. However, the Administration has eliminated over $500 million in international workers’ rights programming funded through ILAB, harming workers in the United States and encouraging a global race to the bottom in wages and standards in Mexico. We urge the Administration to work with Congress to provide ILAB with the resources it needs to ensure enforcement of labor standards in the USMCA, without shortchanging the rest of its commitments around the world.

• Fully Enforce Forced Labor Ban: Article 23.6 of the USMCA requires all three parties to adopt and implement a ban on the import of goods made with forced labor. All USMCA parties have adopted a ban on the import of goods made with forced labor, but in practice, all parties must do more to enforce the ban. While the U.S. enforcement efforts have waned under the second Trump Administration, Canada and Mexico have done little to enforce their respective bans. The joint review should identify concrete actions all three parties can take to improve enforcement, including regular public reporting on enforcement data and protocols to share intelligence underpinning enforcement actions.

• Address Increased Chinese Investment in Mexico: Companies based in the People’s Republic of China are setting up shop in Mexico to take advantage of the preferential trade treatment afforded by USMCA and circumvent U.S. trade laws. Since USMCA came into effect, Chinese investment into Mexico has more than doubled, while U.S. findings of unfair trade practices by the PRC and Chinese companies have expanded significantly: more than 70 new Chinese AD/CVD orders have gone into effect since USMCA was ratified. It is critical to address this loophole in the review of the Agreement to prevent its use as a backdoor to the North American economy by third party actors, particularly our adversaries. Combatting China’s unfair trade practices will take global cooperation, and the review can present a model of how countries can work together to counter this threat.

• Address Chinese Expansion Into North American Supply Chains: Strong Rules of Origin (ROO) are critical for securing supply chains and preventing outsourcing. For that reason, the USMCA included stronger ROO in key sectors like automobiles to boost North American manufacturing. As Chinese exports of industrial goods to Mexico continue to increase, however, it is important to ensure that USMCA continues to primarily benefit North American industry and workers. The Administration should work closely with Congress to negotiate and implement stronger ROO for critical manufacturing sectors like autos, aerospace, and heavy machinery. These ROO strengthen and expand regional value content rules to ensure that parts in these sectors are made in North America and cover new advanced technologies.

The joint review of USMCA will be hugely impactful to North American and global trade. We urge you to keep American workers at the center of this Agreement, as well as ensure their seat at the table now, throughout the joint review, and in the future. Thank you for your consideration of these priorities, and we look forward to working together on these important goals.

Sincerely,

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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