Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) disclosed on television on Friday that she will support an amended version of the USMCA treaty after having shot down the previous version, which she dubbed “NAFTA 2.0.”
In November, Warren had disavowed the first iteration of the USMCA deal, which was in itself an adaptation of the former NAFTA deal from the Clinton era.
“This latest round with Donald Trump over the past three years has just slammed our farmers,” Warren said last year of the plan, according to Bloomberg. “They’ve lost markets, not just in the NAFTA countries but around the world, and it’s really, really put them in a squeeze.”
Warren’s approval of the deal came after three objections she had made to the first USMCA draft were ironed out. The plan guarantees stronger enforcement of labor standards, the prescription drug provision was dropped, and she also said the new treaty does a better job of fighting climate change, a campaign aide said, CNN reported.
“Workers have had the legs taken out from underneath them, and this agreement makes improvements,” Warren said on WBZ Friday moring’s Keller@Large Show. “It’s going to help open up some markets for farmers. They need that stability. It’s going to help with enforceable labor standards, and that’s going to be useful. We really need trade negotiations going forward that make sure anyone who wants access to our markets is actually helping us in the fight against climate change and helping build an economy that works for everybody in the U.S.”
Warren, a Democratic hopeful, now takes a more moderate stance in this issue alongside more center-left Democratic candidates like Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar.
“I want to see improvement for our farmers and workers. It’s not as much improvement as I’d like to see, but right now, they’re in a terrible hole where Donald Trump has put them. I want to get them out of that hole,” Warren told show host Jon Keller.
Fellow senator and political rival for the Democratic presidential candidacy nomination, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), however, still vehemently opposes the plan.
Sanders said in a statement that “a re-negotiated NAFTA must stop the outsourcing of U.S. jobs, end the destructive race to the bottom, protect the environment, and lower the outrageously high price of prescription drugs. Clearly, Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 does not meet these standards,” he said, according to WBZ.
At the end of the interview, Warren was asked to which extent her stance on the treaty sets her apart from Sanders.
“Well, Bernie sees this differently, obviously,” Warren said. “You’ll have to ask Bernie his reasons.”
The prior version of the USMCA passed the House in December with strong bipartisan support and endorsement from the major labor unions. The bill will go to the Senate for ratification as early as next week, and it is expected to smoothly pass there as well.
