Mexico’s legislature is on track to approve broad labor reforms that the country agreed to during USMCA negotiations and that will be key for many U.S. lawmakers weighing their support for the trade pact.
Mexico’s lower house of Congress passed a workers’ rights bill late Thursday by a vote of 258 in favor, 67 opposed and 18 abstentions. The bill now moves to the Mexican Senate, with Reuters reporting that movement could come as early as next week.
“The expectation is that it will be done this month, in April,” Mexico’s top North American negotiator Jesus Seade said of the reforms, who met with freshman U.S. House Democrats as well as the Hispanic Caucus last week to reassure them that Mexico’s labor standards will improve significantly.
Seade reiterated the position that Mexico does not want to reopen the agreement. “It is in our benefit to have this treaty and for there to be no excuse for opening up negotiations again,” he said Thursday.
The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to release a report on the economic impact of the agreement sometime later this month. The report’s pending release, along with Mexico’s labor reforms, are widely viewed as the final steps before the formal process commences.
