Wyden: Bipartisan Passage of New NAFTA Reflects Democratic Push For Strong Labor Enforcement, Upgraded Digital Trade and New Environmental Provisions

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., hailed the passage of the new NAFTA trade agreement today, by a wide bipartisan vote. The updated agreement with Mexico and Canada includes strong new enforcement provisions by Wyden and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, along with modern digital trade rules to advance innovation and free speech, and new environmental protections.

“The version of NAFTA the Trump administration released in 2018 was fundamentally flawed, particularly because it was weak on enforcement. After a lot of work by members here in the Senate and in the House, the proposition of protecting American workers from trade cheats is now at the heart of this agreement. No more corporate race to the bottom coming at the expense of America’s middle class. Today’s broad, bipartisan vote in favor of the new NAFTA reflects the fact that putting workers first is absolutely essential to trade that Oregonians and the rest of America can support,” Wyden said.

Wyden and Brown highlighted how the new labor enforcement rules require faster action with stronger penalties for foreign factories that violate labor laws in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday, and Wyden also spoke Wednesday on how the new deal address flaws in the original NAFTA.

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