ADMINISTRATION URGED TO FIX USMCA FLAWS AND STOP OFFSHORING CALIFORNIA JOBS

CALIFORNIA — Rather than staging photo ops, the administration’s top trade negotiator should be busy preparing for the mandated six-year review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

President Trump previously called the USMCA “the greatest trade deal ever” and promised it would bring jobs pouring back into the United States. Rather than creating prosperity for California workers, however, corporations continue using the deal to ship good-paying jobs across the border to exploit ongoing labor rights abuses, lax pollution controls, and artificially low pay structures.

The trade deficit has actively worsened under President Trump’s signature trade agreement. The U.S. goods trade deficit with regional partners grew 36 percent in real terms since the USMCA took effect—the exact opposite of what was promised. The cross-border deficit with Mexico alone widened by nearly $95 billion, a staggering 47 percent increase.

As a result, American manufacturing has paid the price. Despite past promises of 80,000 new automotive jobs, there are 36,200 fewer American auto sector workers today than when the deal began. Overall, the United States lost 90,000 industrial jobs over the last year alone, while roughly 700,000 manufacturing jobs were added in Mexico during the first six years of the agreement.

A corporate “race to the bottom” on wages remains the root cause of this systemic offshoring. Because the USMCA failed to bridge the gap, manufacturing workers in Mexico are still paid roughly 88% less than what U.S. workers earn—falling nearly 40% below even standard manufacturing wages in China. This vast regional disparity incentivizes companies to cut American jobs, yet the administration’s plans for the upcoming review fail to prioritize the issue.

The upcoming USMCA review deadline is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that is currently being squandered. During this mandatory review, all three countries must decide whether to amend the agreement, extend it as written, or let a 10-year expiration clock begin. A genuine renegotiation must prioritize working families by locking in strong wage guarantees, establishing tougher labor and environmental enforcement mechanisms, and leveling meaningful penalties against companies that offshore American work.

To date, the administration seems more interested in talking about job creation than doing the actual work needed to deliver it.