The trade chiefs of the U.S., Mexico and Canada meet this week after the U.S. and its southern neighbor exchanged complaints about labor conditions.
The first annual meeting of the Free Trade Commission between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier and Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng takes place virtually on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday. It comes six weeks before the one-year anniversary of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s entry into force.
Attention on labor issues increased last week after the U.S. asked Mexico, under the deal’s rapid-response mechanism, to review whether employees at a General Motors Co. facility are being denied their rights. The AFL-CIO filed another complaint. Mexico responded by raising concerns about conditions for workers in the U.S. agriculture and meat packing sectors.
President Joe Biden’s administration has a number of concerns about Mexico’s performance and commitment to the trade deal that it plans to discuss, and it’s vowed to use all available tools to make sure that Mexico and Canada live up to their promises in the deal, Tai said last month.
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