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WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2025 — The 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), North America’s largest aerospace, defense and airline union, is calling on the U.S. Trade Representative to strengthen labor enforcement, raise wage standards, and close loopholes that allow offshoring of aerospace, manufacturing and other jobs under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
In written comments submitted to USTR for the mandatory six-year joint review of the USMCA, the IAM Union emphasized that weak labor enforcement in Mexico and inadequate rules of origin continue to threaten good-paying union jobs in the United States and Canada. The IAM Union notably opposed the USMCA during its 2019 adoption, and NAFTA in the early 90s.
“The USMCA promised to lift standards for workers across North America, but too many companies are still chasing low wages and weak enforcement,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “It’s time for a trade policy that defends North American manufacturing, protects our workers, and ensures that every product bearing the USMCA label is truly made under fair conditions.”
The IAM Union’s USMCA filing highlights the need to:
The IAM Union’s USMCA filing reads, in part:
“Unfortunately, our concerns about USMCA have proven to be accurate: Mexican industrial wages remain lower than those in China, and offshoring of well-paid U.S. jobs continues, including many in the aerospace sector. Indeed, since USMCA was enacted, we have seen further erosion of good, middle-class, union jobs in the United States. In order to prevent this from continuing, we need to take vigorous action on a number of fronts during the upcoming review.”
The IAM Union represents more than 600,000 active and retired members in aerospace, airlines, defense, and manufacturing across the United States and Canada.
The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, shipbuilding, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada.
