In Comments to USTR, Public Citizen Urges Overhaul of Corporate-Dominated Trade Policies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Public Citizen submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on both the 2026 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report and the upcoming 2026 review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Together, the comments call for a complete shift in U.S. trade policy, away from the corporate-dominated model of the past and toward one that prioritizes workers, consumers, and the environment.
The NTE comment urges USTR to end the practice of labeling other countries’ public interest policies as “trade barriers.” Public Citizen emphasizes that the report should not regurgitate the hit list of Big Tech and other large corporate interests, targeting legitimate regulations that protect digital privacy, food safety, public health, and the environment.
In the USMCA submission, Public Citizen also calls for major reforms to transform the agreement into one that prioritizes public interest, labor rights, environmental protection, and equitable economic development over corporate profits. While the USMCA introduced important labor enforcement tools, it still reflects the corporate priorities of its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and of President Trump, who failed to deliver the overhaul he promised.
“Congress is finally showing signs of life, with the Senate this week taking action against some of Trump’s most egregious tariffs,” said Global Trade Watch director Melinda St. Louis. “Now will Congress live up to their constitutional mandate over trade policy and demand that Trump make the changes needed to USMCA to support working people and end its corporate handouts?”
Key reforms proposed by Public Citizen include:
- Removing Big Tech’s deregulatory provisions that block governments from protecting privacy, regulating AI, or taxing digital platforms;
- Eliminating Big Pharma’s monopoly protections that undermine access to affordable medicines;
- Strengthening labor and environmental standards with improved enforcement and accountability,
- Removing rules that benefit large U.S. agribusiness at the expense of the livelihoods of small farmers in all three countries
- Ending any remaining ISDS provisions that let corporations attack public interest laws and threaten sovereignty.
- Protecting the rights of migrants and changing rules that have exacerbated forced migration from Mexico