US, Mexico agree to USMCA labor law guarantees

US and Mexican trade negotiators have reached a deal making changes to labor enforcement under a new continent-wide trade agreement, Fox Business reported Monday.

That could remove a principal hurdle to ratification of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the fate of which has seemed to hang by a thread in recent weeks.

Citing unnamed sources, Fox Business said a final deal could emerge in the next 24 hours that would allow all three countries to ratify the modified deal.

However a senior Democratic aide in Congress told AFP officials on Capitol Hill were still studying the proposal.

"No agreement to announce yet," the person said on condition of anonymity.

With the window narrowing for action by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, as 2019 draws to a close and an election year approaches, there has been a flurry of last-minute activity on the trade pact in recent days.

More than a year ago, the United States, Mexico and Canada signed an update to the North American Free Trade Agreement, changing rules on auto and digital trade, Mexican labor laws, intellectual property and dispute settlement systems for investors.

Mexican lawmakers ratified the deal in June but Democrats in Washington and US labor leaders have raised concerns - looking for stronger guarantees that new Mexican labor laws will be enforced to prevent unfair competition with US workers.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in recent weeks has sent positive signals, saying an agreement was imminent.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week he would not accept a US proposal for supervisors to oversee the implementation of Mexico's labor reforms under the USMCA.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcel Ebrard said Sunday his country would not accept immediate application of minimum requirements for metal content in automobiles.