USMCA goes further than any other trade agreement by requiring that between
40 percent and 45 percent of any vehicle made in Mexico or anywhere else in North America has to be produced by workers making at least $16 an hour. Democrats who have advocated this over the years should be hailing it as a breakthrough. The agreement requires USMCA-compliant autos and auto parts to have a higher percentage of U.S. and North American content: Under NAFTA, that content requirement is 62.5 percent — under USMCA it’s
75 percent, the highest of any U.S. trade agreement. This means more auto parts jobs in the United States. There is also a new and unprecedented requirement that
70 percent of the steel purchased is from USMCA countries.
The USMCA will also provide U.S. farmers with better access to new markets in Canada and Mexico. That’s why nearly
1,000 agricultural groups support the agreement. In every part of the country, farmers badly need these new markets at a time when farm country is hurting with low prices, a shrinking China market and bad weather.
When Democrats Like Gator...say that the USMCA is just like the NAFTA agreement they oppose, they’re ignoring the facts to score political points.
