The USMCA and Perot’s legacy http://theconver
Post# of 123773
http://theconversation.com/the-giant-sucking-...ent-120258
So will the new NAFTA – the United States Mexico Canada Agreement – end the sucking of jobs south?
Not likely. Mexico has a new reform-minded president, but the obstacles are daunting. They include powerful and often corrupt company unions in Mexico who profit off the status quo and employers who have become accustomed to rock-bottom wages.
What Americans need is trade between the U.S. and Mexico that benefits people in both countries. To do that, labor rights need to be harmonized to the best standards in North America, not slide to the lowest. Workers and communities throughout North America should be the beneficiaries of expanded trade, not its victims.
While Mexico has pledged and passed positive labor reforms, it doesn’t have the capacity to implement them. An important lesson from NAFTA is promises often evaporate once a deal goes into effect. The original NAFTA included similar promises but failed to deliver.
Americans have heard enough of Perot’s “giant sucking sound” over the last 25 years. What they need now is broadly shared prosperity. I’m sure that will sound a lot better to the ear.