Perez, Mexican Counterpart Discuss TPP Labor Issues In Washington Meeting

摘要

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and his Mexican counterpart Alfonso Navarrete Prida on Wednesday (Aug. 12) discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations as well as Mexican labor rights during a meeting in Washington, which was attended by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Lewis Karesh as well as USTR Deputy Chief of Staff Behnaz Kibria. A labor source said in advance of the meeting that the agenda included the legal changes Mexico is willing to make in the context of a final TPP deal, if it is reached. USTR has indicated that it is negotiating so-called "consistency plans" with Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei that would bring them into compliance with the TPP labor obligations, but has not detailed what form these agreements would take. On Aug. 6, Assistant USTR Barbara Weisel told congressional staff in a closed-door briefing that these agreements were not quite done. According to an Aug. 13 press release from Mexico's Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, the two sides discussed "the results of the most recent round of TPP negotiations" during the meeting, in addition to laying the groundwork for future discussions at a meeting of G20 labor ministers next month in Ankara, Turkey. The statement also said Navarrete shared with Perez the recent advances the Mexican labor market has seen, and the efforts underway to establish a general minimum wage in the country. Both sides also discussed the issue of Mexican migrant workers.