Sharp differences over labor surface at NAFTA talks in Mexico - Polidicks

[QUOTE]MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tensions over sharp differences in pay between Mexican workers and their Canadian and U.S. counterparts surfaced on Sunday as negotiators discussed labor market rules in talks to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada’s biggest private-sector union said NAFTA should be scrapped if Mexico cannot agree to better labor standards, clashing with Mexican business leaders who argued that workers rights were a matter for each country to resolve internally. Mexican political and corporate leaders firmly resist demands to bring wages into line with U.S. and Canadian levels, arguing the big cost advantage the country enjoys over richer peers should decrease as economic development advances. Labor union leaders in the two wealthier nations say laxer labor standards and lower pay in Mexico have swelled corporate profits at the expense of Canadian and U.S. workers, making resolution of the issue a major battleground of the NAFTA talks.[/QUOTE] [URL]https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-labor/sharp-differences-over-labor-surface-at-nafta-talks-in-mexico-idUSKCN1BF00H[/URL]

I'm genuinely surprised labor is even a consideration under this administration, i mean he's so deeply pro business its depressingly comical.

[QUOTE=Sableye;52645139]I'm genuinely surprised labor is even a consideration under this administration, i mean he's so deeply pro business its depressingly comical.[/QUOTE] Why wouldn't it be, a neighbor is offering way less labour standards for products, unfair to the other nations. It is still a pro-business agenda.

[QUOTE=Sableye;52645139]I'm genuinely surprised labor is even a consideration under this administration, i mean he's so deeply pro business its depressingly comical.[/QUOTE] The only reason he wants Mexicos workers to be paid as much as ours is that he can't figure it a way to regress us far enough until our workers are paid as much as theirs

This is the central problem with NAFTA. Most major trade agreements since NAFTA have included bits about equalizing labor standards over time. The EU, as an example, standardizes many aspects of labor law among all member countries. NAFTA should be working to help bring Mexico up to the level of the US and Canada. Pushing for Mexican labor standards comparable to the US and Canada will help with that goal far more than allowing Mexican workers to be abused by their employers through overworking, skimping on paying their workers, forcing labor in unsafe working conditions, etc. If this problem can be resolved, I'll be pretty happy. But under Trump, I think it's more likely we'll scrap the entire trade agreement and end up hurting ourselves way more than if we had left it as it was.

[QUOTE=.Isak.;52645751]If this problem can be resolved, I'll be pretty happy. But under Trump, I think it's more likely we'll scrap the entire trade agreement and end up hurting ourselves way more than if we had left it as it was.[/QUOTE] Well consider the world he came from and the people he listens to -- he thinks the world is a zero-sum game and doesn't understand that both countries can benefit from something. Part of why you constantly hear him talking about "BAD DEALS" and "AMERICA IS GETTIN RIPPED OFF" (because not all our treaties and trade agreements are 100% one-sided in favor of the US)