UAW Calls for Worker-Centered Reforms in USMCA Trade Agreement Review

UAW Members Advocate for Major Revisions to USMCA Ahead of 2026 Review

As the 2026 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) approaches, United Auto Workers (UAW) members are voicing urgent concerns over current free trade practices. The push is for a shift towards trade agreements that prioritize worker interests over those of corporations.

The open comment period for the USMCA concluded on Monday, November 3^rd, allowing UAW members to express their experiences with the current trade framework. The UAW International has compiled an extensive comment submission that advocates for sweeping transformations in North American trade policies to benefit the working class.

Key proposals within the UAW’s comment, which can be accessed here, include the implementation of a North American minimum manufacturing wage, imposition of penalties on companies that offshore jobs, and a "build here to sell here" mandate. This would require companies to maintain quality job commitments in any country where they sell products.

“We’re here to stop the global race to the bottom that is set up by design in our disastrous trade deals,” asserted UAW President Shawn Fain. “With 5 million manufacturing jobs lost since NAFTA, with 90,000 plant closures causing devastation for the working class, with wages and standards falling across borders, and with the USMCA failing to stop the bleeding started by NAFTA, we have to tear up this deal and start over. That’s what this fight is all about, and in 2026 we expect our government representatives in the Trump administration and in Congress to get serious about fixing our broken trade system.”