fb tracking

NAFTA, USMCA, and North American Trade

First enacted in 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enabled big corporations to compete in a race to the bottom to produce goods with the cheapest labor and weakest environmental standards. The result was lost jobs, lower wages, and skyrocketing inequality.

Unions, civil society groups, progressive policymakers, and American voters demanded change, culminating in a renegotiation during the first administration of Donald Trump. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which took effect in July 2020, was the result of this process.

The USMCA has failed to fix NAFTA’s problems. Corporations continue to offshore good-paying American jobs to Mexico, where workers’ rights are still violated and wages remain a pittance. But now, a mandatory six-year review presents an opportunity to secure meaningful changes that uplift working families.

Resources