After months of negotiation, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Friday announced his support for the new NAFTA trade deal, also known as the U.S. Mexico Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).
Brown worked with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) to add a pro-worker provision to the USMCA. Wyden said the provision will help enforce labor standards to prevent offshoring of jobs.
The provision will also protect the rights of Mexican workers, which Wyden said will prevent a race to the bottom, and level the playing field for workers across the country.
Calling it the strongest enforcement of labor standards ever put into a U.S. trade deal, Brown wants the anti-offshoring provision to be included in every trade agreement moving forward.
Brown called the agreement an important step in establishing a trade policy that works for workers, but he said there's still room for improvement.
This is the first trade agreement Brown has ever supported.
