International solidarity is easier to proclaim than uphold. While progressives talk a good game about internationalism, it is too often used as a cover to attempt to revert to an unjust & protectionist economic order.

The recent USMCA vote is a perfect example of the above. While the deal had massive bipartisan support, several progressive Congresspeople saw it as a perfect opportunity to promote their own self-image — on top of the backs of millions of Mexican workers.

Some background is necessary in order to understand the gravity of this sin, and why voting against, or rallying against, the USMCA should be seen as an act of treason against working people.

In 1994, the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed a trade agreement — NAFTA — that created one of the world’s largest trade blocs. Even then, NAFTA, like every trade agreement, had its detractors. But it passed. And the passing of NAFTA fundamentally remade the Mexican economy. As the only developing country in the agreement, with relatively lower labor costs, Mexico’s economy became very heavily weighted towards export-oriented manufacturing. So much so, that 40% of Mexico’s GDP comes from exports, mostly to the United States, the world’s largest economy.

Exports as a percentage of GDP in Mexico (source: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/MEX/mexico/exports)

NAFTA has mixed approval ratings from the American public. As with any trade deal, there were those negatively affected by the deal, particularly the manufacturing sector in the Great Lakes & the Midwest. These are particularly competitive states in general elections, which makes this a prime grievance for demagogues to exploit. Donald Trump was the perfect vehicle for this grievance, and in the December of 2018, Trump unilaterally terminated NAFTA after painting Mexico as a nation of rapists and drug dealers hellbent on exploiting the United States.

Any “progressive opposition” to USMCA needs to grapple with these facts: —

Mexico is the vulnerable party, having had its entire economy remade due to a trade deal with a much larger partner.

The unilateral canceling of NAFTA was based on racism and a desire to punish Mexico.

Millions of Mexican workers now rely on export-oriented manufacturing to the United States in order to feed their families, and destroying this sector will have profoundly negative effects on them.

This isn’t a debate about whether NAFTA should have been signed or not. While most economists believe that NAFTA positively benefited Mexico, several others disagreed. But NAFTA did pass. It did remake the Mexican economy in the almost 30 years since its passing. And canceling it would destroy that economy. Those are the facts we have to deal with, not the world of what should have been.

Maquiladoras in Mexico provide employment to millions of workers.

This is why even the left-wing Mexican head of state, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, urged US Congress to pass the USMCA as fast as possible. Millions of Mexican workers now rely on a free-trade deal with the United States for their livelihoods. As the much more powerful party in the contract, we have a responsibility to look out for their livelihoods as much as we would our own.

Yet, it is a responsibility that progressives have not only ignored, but have soundly rejected. Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who frequently waxes poetic about “solidarity”, decided to abandon that principle completely, and stab Mexican workers in the back in order to boost her own self-image. Ilhan Omar, despite incessant chatter about internationalism, had no problem doing the same. Bernie Sanders published a statement opposing the deal, and voted against it in the Senate, claiming it needs to be renegotiated from scratch.

These positions are utterly, utterly shameful. First, the trade deal was unilaterally terminated. No discussions were made with Mexico and Canada prior to its termination. Yet, both these countries ignored the hardline tactics & constant insults of Mr Trump, and graciously chose to renegotiate. Imagine how arrogant you must be in order to demand that we go back and tell them, “We’re sorry, but you’ll have to renegotiate again, and we’ll probably not have a deal for you until 2022. Sucks to be you!”

This is the stereotype of the callous, selfish, ugly American in the flesh. Outrageously, many of these Congresspeople brought up the red herring of climate change in order to justify their heinous decision. Imagine that. Demanding that Mexico do more on climate change in order to be included on a trade agreement, when the United States has just pulled out of the biggest climate deal of this century. The sheer hubris involved in making such a cynical demand of our already bullied neighbors to the South should disgust any reader of conscience.

Meanwhile, the economic uncertainty created will totally destroy the Mexican economy, sending poverty soaring, increasing the incentives for crime, and likely creating massive migration pressure into the United States from Mexico which will be easily exploited by Trump and the hard right. Every single one of these progressives have chosen to put the fate of millions of Mexican workers in the hands of one of the must temperamental and vindictive US Presidents of all time. That isn’t solidarity. It is cowardice. It is racism. It is a willingness to step on thousands of corpses in order to boost your own political career.