U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, today expressed guarded praise of the announcement by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that he would commence the first enforcement action under the recently-renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) against Canada to protect American dairy farmers and workers.

“The renegotiated NAFTA will only succeed to the benefit of workers and our economies if its signatories adhere to the fine print,” said Rep. Pascrell. “While the USTR’s action is welcome for our dairy farmers, our labor brothers and sisters in Mexico are still struggling mightily in ways that hurt American workers. USTR can go much further than it has so far to make sure the right to organize is actually being protected. While there is still time for this administration to do something to protect workers, I am hopeful the incoming Biden administration will be much more aggressive to making this agreement worth more than the paper it is written on for our workers and markets.”