As discussed, USMCA lacks labor and environmental enforcement mechanisms. But this is just part of the problem. Even if there were enforcement, the USMCA lacks good rules to enforce. Further, the new NAFTA includes two ways–ISDS and good regulatory practices–that allow corporations to change or repeal regulations that hurt their profits. USMCA is fundamentally oriented towards corporations, not people or the planet, which is why it must be stopped altogether not simply reformed. Stopping the USMCA will allow us to go back to the drawing board. A better model for North American trade is achievable if we maintain that focus. A new North American agreement needs strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards. It needs to raise wages in all three countries, support unions, repeal right-to-work laws, and end the outsourcing of jobs and pollution. It needs to protect small and indigenous farmers, sustainable food systems and consumers by strengthening food labeling and inspections of imported foods. It needs to make medicine and health care more accessible and affordable. It needs to protect wildlife, clean air and water, and the health of our communities. It needs to address climate change head on and defend the most vulnerable communities from environmental disasters. Trade must be used to obtain positive goals that reduce inequality and treat people with dignity. It must prioritize reparations to indigenous peoples and black and brown communities through financial compensation and decolonization and respect the sovereignty of Indigenous Nations to control what happens on their land. Any new ‘trade’ deal must be negotiated through a democratic and transparent process that includes public participation with broad swaths of society, not just corporations. NAFTA 2 falls far short of meeting these basic criteria. Dr. Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese write, the “new NAFTA framework remains trade for corporations while undermining health, the environment, food, and worker rights.” NAFTA 2 provides new avenues for corporations to challenge public interest laws that hurt their profits. It maintains NAFTA offshoring of jobs and pollution as well as buy american and buy local waivers for Canadian and Mexican industries. The USMCA facilitates the expansion of chemical agriculture and GMOs while undermining food safety inspections and labelling. It encourages dirty energy from fracking and tar sands, and fails to even mention climate change. As the recent IPCC report shows, we don’t have 16 years to start talking about climate change. In terms of offshoring, the current language of USMCA allows corporations to send jobs and pollution to Mexico where environmental and human rights protections are often lower. For instance, this new NAFTA would allow metal recyclers to send toxic used car batteries to Mexican recycling factories that do not have lead exposure controls and where workers have and continue to get lead poisoning. The US-Mexico border has become a dumping ground for the excessive waste of corporate America. In terms of energy, fossil fuel companies are major winners of the new NAFTA. Instead of moving North America towards renewables, USMCA locks us into oil and gas. According to Sierra Club the USMCA maintains NAFTA rules that prevent the U.S. government, the Department of Energy, “from determining whether gas exports to Mexico or Canada are in the public interest.” This basically is an automatic guarantee of gas export which would “increase fracking in the U.S., expand cross-border gas pipelines,” and create greater Mexican dependency on natural gas which has been the main contributor, way more than any other fuel type, to Mexico’s  recent increase in climate pollution. Also in Mexico, the USMCA will lock in the government’s recent deregulation of oil and gas. Big oil successfully lobbied for two ways–ISDS and good regulatory practices–to challenge the Mexican government if it tries to nationalize its energy sector agan. The USMCA also supports tar sands, though in a little different way from NAFTA.. NAFTA supported tar sands with the proportionality rule that locks in tar sands oil extraction in Canada. USMCA, on the other hand, supports tar sands by making it cheaper for oil companies to export Canadian tar sands through U.S. oil pipelines. This could make it harder to shut down existing tar sands pipelines like Keystone Phase 1, Enbridge line 6b, line 5, and line 17 as well as stop new ones like the proposed Enbridge line 3. ’USMCA’s proposed expansion of the fossil fuel empire is an environmental disaster on its own. But, NAFTA 2 goes further by reducing environmental protections that are included in the last four US trade deals. It does this by “failing to reinforce a standard set of seven Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA)” that protect wetland ecosystems, arctic ecosystems, and endangered species and prevent overfishing, unnecessary marine pollution, and so much more. An environmental coalitionshows: “the deal includes standard enforcement language for only one of the seven MEAs, while using weak language for two and failing to even mention four of these essential environmental agreements.”
USMCA lacks labor and environmental enforcement mechanisms Even if there were enforcement, the USMCA lacks good rules to enforce USMCA is fundamentally oriented towards corporations, not the planet, which is why it must be stopped altogether not simply reformed Dr. Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese write, the “new NAFTA framework remains trade for corporations while undermining health, the environment, food, and worker rights It maintains NAFTA offshoring of jobs and pollution  The USMCA facilitates the expansion of chemical agriculture and GMOs while undermining food safety inspections and labelling It encourages dirty energy from fracking and tar sands, and fails to even mention climate change. As the recent IPCC report shows, we don’t have 16 years to start talking about climate change. the current language of USMCA allows corporations to send jobs and pollution to Mexico where environmental and human rights protections are often lower This basically is an automatic guarantee of gas export which would “increase fracking in the U.S., expand cross-border gas pipelines and create greater Mexican dependency on natural gas which has been the main contributor, way more than any other fuel type, to Mexico’s  recent increase in climate pollution. the USMCA will lock in the government’s recent deregulation of oil and gas Big oil successfully lobbied for two ways challenge the Mexican government if it tries to nationalize its energy sector agan. The USMCA also supports tar sands by making it cheaper for oil companies to export Canadian tar sands through U.S. oil pipelines. This could make it harder to shut down existing tar sands pipelines ’USMCA’s proposed expansion of the fossil fuel empire is an environmental disaster on its own. NAFTA 2 goes further by reducing environmental protections that are included in the last four US trade deals. failing to reinforce a standard set of seven MEA that protect wetland ecosystems, arctic ecosystems, and endangered species and prevent overfishing, unnecessary marine pollution, and so much more.