[CTC] Riley, Simon Lead Freshmen Democrats in Push for Trade Policy that Supports Working People

[Arthur Stamoulis]

*Retweet CTC here*
<https://x.com/citizenstrade/status/1932058859008663982?t=sJYcNLY1JGNHmL02CnW5dw&s=19>


https://riley.house.gov/media/press-releases/riley-simon-lead-freshman-democrats-push-trade-policy-supports-working-people


RILEY, SIMON LEAD FRESHMAN DEMOCRATS IN PUSH FOR TRADE POLICY THAT SUPPORTS
WORKING PEOPLE
June 6, 2025
PRESS RELEASE <https://riley.house.gov/media/press-releases>
Freshman Dems to Trump: Preserve American Manufacturing, Support Family
Farms, and Rebuild Industrial Base

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Josh Riley (NY-19) and Rep. Lateefah Simon
(CA-12) led 18 of their colleagues in a letter to President Trump and U.S.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer calling for a trade policy that
strengthens America’s middle class, rebuilds the U.S. industrial base, and
safeguards family farms and small businesses.

"For too long, bad trade deals have been written in Wall Street boardrooms
and rubber-stamped in political backrooms—while towns from Endicott to
Ellenville got sold out," said Rep. Josh Riley. "I came to Congress to give
blue-collar towns a real voice in trade talks. I'll work with anyone from
any party who wants to rethink trade in a way that supports American
farmers, builds American factories for American workers, and strengthens
national security."

"I’m proud to represent the Port of Oakland, the largest refrigerated cargo
export port in the United States," said Rep. Lateefah Simon. "Tariffs are
not inherently bad, but President Trump’s chaotic, self-imposed tariff war
has been a disaster for the U.S. economy. That’s why I am leading my
freshman colleagues to call on the president to fix U.S. trade policy to
support workers, small businesses, and the environment."

The members outlined four key areas of proposed collaboration:

1. Improving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):

   - Include stronger labor and environmental standards.
   - Close China's USMCA backdoor into U.S. markets.
   - Fix digital trade provisions.

2. Investing in American Manufacturing:

   - Preserve and expand investments like the *CHIPS & Science Act*
   <https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4346>.

3. Reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA):

   - Support and improve *TAA* <https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/tradeact> for
   communities impacted by past trade policies.

4. Pairing Strategic Tariffs with Pro-Worker Laws:

   - Implement tariffs with anti-price gouging and pro-labor reforms.

Labor Unions and Stakeholders Support Riley, Simon Letter:

“For too long, bad trade deals have sacrificed American jobs and gutted
communities to pad the profits of giant corporations. We applaud these
newly elected members of Congress for advancing a vision for a new era of
trade that grows America’s middle class by putting workers, not
corporations, first. The AFL-CIO will continue to work with all leaders who
fight for fair trade,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.

“The United Steelworkers applaud these freshman members of Congress for
standing up for working people with a trade agenda that puts jobs, fair
wages, and America’s industrial strength ahead of corporate profits and
race-to-the-bottom policies,” said United Steelworkers President David
McCall.

"Working Americans have long understood that our country’s trade policies
are rigged against them, and increasingly recognize that it will take more
than tough talk to reverse the damage caused by decades of corporate-driven
trade deals,” said Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director of Citizens Trade
Campaign. “That’s why it’s so encouraging to see that Reps. Riley, Simon
and others in the Democratic freshman class have a clear, level-headed plan
for revitalizing American manufacturing, creating good-paying jobs and
strengthening critical supply chains. Their blueprint for a new U.S.
approach to trade is one that should be followed closely.”

“On behalf of the 600,000 active and retired members of this very diverse
union, I want to thank these House Freshmen who understand the importance
of fair trade policy,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant.
“U.S. trade policy has led many news headlines in recent months, and this
letter underscores the importance of renegotiating the USMCA to protect
domestic manufacturing in areas like aerospace, reauthorizing the U.S.
Labor Department’s TAA program, and enacting strategic tariffs that punish
bad actors and protect U.S. jobs.”

“That this letter reflects Americans’ demand nationwide for a new approach
to trade that benefits American workers, farmers and consumers, not only
the largest job-offshoring multinational corporations, agribusiness
monopolists and Big Pharma price-gougers, reflects it being signed by a
geographically and politically diverse group of new Democratic House
members spending time at home with their constituents,” said Lori Wallach,
Director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The
administration would be well-served to adopt the approach to trade that
these freshman members outline in support of the working families,
independent farmers, domestic manufacturers, main street businesses and
consumers they represent. Rethink Trade appreciates Rep. Riley and Rep.
Simon leading the Democratic freshman trade agenda letter for the 119th
Congress.”

“As we approach the renegotiation of the USMCA, the stakes couldn’t be
higher for UAW members. Our union is fighting to end the corporate race to
the bottom that pits workers in the U.S. against workers in Mexico. We
applaud Reps. Riley, Simon, and all of the freshman members of Congress on
this letter for standing with us, and for helping to chart a new,
pro-worker agenda on trade,” said United Automobile Workers Legislative
Director Rajiv Sicora.

Rep. Riley’s Track Record on Manufacturing:

   - Passed bipartisan Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act (*H.R.
   1453* <https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1453/text>
   )
   - Co-sponsored *H.R. 2480*
   <https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2480/text> to
   strengthen semiconductor supply chains
   - Advocated for full funding of *Manufacturing Extension Partnership
   (MEP)* <https://www.nist.gov/mep>
   - Supported *CHIPS & Science Act*
   <https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4346>

Full text of the letter can be found here:

Dear President Trump:

We are new Members of Congress committed to fixing U.S. trade policy in a
way that strengthens America’s middle class by creating good jobs, rebuilds
our industrial base by spurring manufacturing, safeguards the environment
and public health, and supports America’s family farms, small businesses,
and innovators.

Communities across the United States are still dealing with the
consequences of bad trade deals that were written by and for the largest
corporate interests, not for the best interests of working people. We have
lost 90,000 manufacturing facilities, millions of family-supporting jobs,
and the tax base that once supported schools, hospitals, and other vital
services. Our national security has been compromised by low-road trade
deals that weakened America’s industrial base and concentrated production
of vital industries in a few low-wage countries. The “race-to-the-bottom”
spurred by corporate-driven globalization has led to massive and persistent
American trade deficits that fuel income inequality and leave us overly
reliant on importing essential goods, from food to steel.

Good trade policy can rebuild and preserve American manufacturing and
strengthen the middle class. We believe there are areas of common ground in
this effort, and we are prepared to work on these with you. For example:

1. Improve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement

The upcoming mandatory six-year review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA) is an important opportunity to improve the deal and fix its
deficiencies.

*Stronger Labor Standards:* The U.S.-Mexico trade deficit continues to grow
because most Mexican manufacturing workers are still not represented by
independent unions who bargain for better wages, and they continue to make
a small fraction of what American workers make. Meanwhile, multinational
corporations use the threat of offshoring to pad their profit margins by
suppressing American workers’ wages.

To address these challenges, companies operating in Mexico must be required
to comply with stronger labor standards. The Rapid Response Mechanism for
labor standards should be  improved, USMCA should include concrete
revisions to raise wages for workers in Mexico, and USMCA’s rules-of-origin
provisions should compel companies to pay higher wages, particularly for
the auto and aerospace industries.

*Stronger Environmental Standards:* Mexico has not adequately enforced
environmental standards, too often allowing corporations to cut corners.
That not only hurts the environment, it puts American-based operations at a
competitive disadvantage. Therefore, USMCA should be updated to extend the
Rapid Response Mechanism to cover environmental issues, and it should
include stronger measures to deter non-compliance, so companies don’t
simply sidestep environmental and other standards.

*Close China’s Backdoor to U.S. Markets:* Chinese companies in Mexico have
doubled their industrial footprint in recent years, using Mexico as a
backdoor into American markets and undermining our trade laws. To address
this, USMCA needs updated rules-of-origin requirements, and Mexico needs to
match the border measures that America and Canada have adopted to address
unfairly traded Chinese EVs, steel, and aluminum.

*Fix Digital Trade and Other Issues:* While USMCA made some improvements on
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it also included several
provisions that were worse, and these should be fixed during the mandatory
review. USMCA should be updated to remove special “digital trade” rights
and privileges that allow Big Tech to pre-empt laws Congress and state
legislatures have enacted to protect data privacy and security, right to
repair, online safety for children and more. USMCA should also eliminate
rules that effectively forbid use of Buy American or Buy Local procurement
standards; eliminate the remaining special foreign investor tribunals; and
eliminate special monopoly protections for pharmaceutical firms to raise
medicine prices.

2. Invest in American Manufacturing

Rebuilding American manufacturing requires American investments that
complement the strategic and targeted use of tariffs and other trade tools.
While American politicians and special interests have spent decades
offshoring jobs and hollowing out our industrial base, other nations have
done the opposite, investing substantially in their own manufacturing
capacity.

The CHIPS & Science Act promises to rebuild America’s semiconductor
industry, and the Inflation Reduction Act and other industrial policies
have generated the highest rate of factory investment in decades. These
investments will put America back on the forefront of advanced
manufacturing. With improvements to labor laws, these investments will also
create tens of thousands of good union jobs. We urge you to support and
improve these investments, not roll them back.

3. Reauthorize and Improve Trade Adjustment Assistance

Fair trade and industrial policies require us to support the workers and
communities that lost jobs due to import competition. Programs like Trade
Adjustment Assistance (TAA) were supposed to soften the blow, but they have
been insufficient, and the program is currently lapsed. We therefore urge
you to support efforts to reauthorize and improve TAA to invest in American
workers and communities that have lost jobs because of flawed trade
policies.

4. Pair Targeted and Strategic Tariffs with Anti-Price Gouging and
Pro-Labor Laws

Used in a strategic and targeted manner, tariffs can level the playing
field and give American workers a fighting chance to compete. That’s
especially true when American workers are forced to compete against
countries that use sweatshop labor, wreck the environment, manipulate
currency, and otherwise cheat.

To make sure that the corporations enjoying years of record profits–and not
workers or consumers–bear the costs of adjusting from the old trade policy
they promoted, tariffs must be accompanied by policies that stop corporate
price-gouging and stock buybacks, as well as policies that make it easier
to form a union. With these measures, tariffs can lead to productive
investment and higher wages, instead of providing another excuse for
companies to raise prices and pay out large dividends amidst record high
profits.

If not deployed strategically, tariffs have the potential to harm American
producers, and that’s especially true in rural areas with agricultural
economies. For decades, farmers have been squeezed by input costs that are
too high and prices that are too low. Our farmers deserve a
whole-of-government approach to address these longstanding challenges as
well as any impacts from changes in our trade policy.

We look forward to working with your U.S. Trade Representative to achieve a
new American trade policy that delivers for our constituents.

###


https://simon.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-simon-and-congressman-riley-urge-president-trump-adopt-smart


CONGRESSWOMAN SIMON AND CONGRESSMAN RILEY URGE PRESIDENT TRUMP TO ADOPT A
SMART TRADE POLICY THAT PRIORITIZES WORKERS, AMERICAN MANUFACTURING, AND
CLIMATE-FRIENDLY PRACTICES
June 6, 2025
PRESS RELEASE <https://simon.house.gov/media/press-releases>

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) and
Congressman Josh Riley (D-NY-19) led 18 of their Freshman Democratic
colleagues in a letter to President Donald Trump and U.S. Trade
Representative Jamieson Greer urging them to fix U.S. trade policy to
better strengthen American manufacturing, safeguard the environment and
public health, and support America’s workers, small businesses, and
innovators. This letter comes amid President Trump’s chaotic trade war and
decision to impose, then reverse, and now re-impose tariffs on numerous
countries has created a strain on the global economy and on the East Bay’s
local economy.

In order to improve U.S. trade policy, the lawmakers suggested: (1)
Improving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to include stronger
labor standards, stronger environmental standards, updated rules-of-origin
requirements, and improved digital trade provisions; (2) investing in
American manufacturing; (3) reauthorizing and improving Trade Adjustment
Assistance (TAA); and (4) pairing strategic tariffs with anti-price gouging
and pro-labor laws.

“I’m proud to represent the Port of Oakland, the largest refrigerated cargo
export port in the United States, and I recently convened a roundtable with
Port officials and labor and small business leaders to discuss tariff
policies. Tariffs are not inherently bad, but President Trump’s illogical
and chaotic self-imposed tariff war is a disaster for the U.S. economy and
the global economy,” said Congresswoman Simon.

“That’s why I am leading my Freshmen colleagues to call on the President to
fix U.S. trade policy to support workers, American manufacturing, America’s
small businesses and innovators, and the environment.” "For too long, bad
trade deals have been written in Wall Street boardrooms and rubber-stamped
in political backrooms—while towns from Endicott to Ellenville got sold
out. I came to Congress to give blue collar towns a real voice in trade
talks, and I'll work with anyone from any party who wants to rethink trade
in a way that supports American farmers, builds American factories for
American workers to make American products, and strengthens American
national security," said Congressman Riley.

The letter led by Congresswoman Simon and Congressman Riley is also signed
by: Reps. Yassamin Ansari, Wesley Bell, Janelle Bynum, Gil Cisneros, Sarah
Elfreth, Cleo Fields, Maggie Goodlander, Julie Johnson, George Latimer,
John Mannion, April McClain-Delaney, McDonald Rivet, Johnny Olszewski,
Nellie Pou, Emily Randall, and Suhas Subramanyam.

The full text of the letter can be read here
<https://simon.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/simon.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/119th-congress-dem-freshman-trade-letter_finalized_6.5.25.pdf>and
below.

*Dear President Trump: *

*We are new Members of Congress committed to fixing U.S. trade policy in a
way that strengthens America’s middle class by creating good jobs, rebuilds
our industrial base by spurring manufacturing, safeguards the environment
and public health, and supports America’s family farms, small businesses,
and innovators.*

*Communities across the United States are still dealing with the
consequences of bad trade deals that were written by and for the largest
corporate interests, not for the best interests of working people. We have
lost 90,000 manufacturing facilities, millions of family-supporting jobs,
and the tax base that once supported schools, hospitals, and other vital
services. Our national security has been compromised by low-road trade
deals that weakened America’s industrial base and concentrated production
of vital industries in a few low-wage countries. The “race-to-the-bottom”
spurred by corporate-driven globalization has led to massive and persistent
American trade deficits that fuel income inequality and leave us overly
reliant on importing essential goods, from food to steel.*

*Good trade policy can rebuild and preserve American manufacturing and
strengthen the middle class. We believe there are areas of common ground in
this effort, and we are prepared to work on these with you. For example:*

   1. *Improve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement*
   2. *Invest in American Manufacturing*
   3. *Reauthorize and Improve Trade Adjustment Assistance*
   4. *Pair Targeted and Strategic Tariffs with Anti-Price Gouging and
   Pro-Labor Laws*

*The upcoming mandatory six-year review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA) is an important opportunity to improve the deal and fix its
deficiencies. *

*Stronger Labor Standards: The U.S.-Mexico trade deficit continues to grow
because most Mexican manufacturing workers are still not represented by
independent unions who bargain for better wages, and they continue to make
a small fraction of what American workers make. Meanwhile, multinational
corporations use the threat of offshoring to pad their profit margins by
suppressing American workers’ wages.*

*To address these challenges, companies operating in Mexico must be
required to comply with stronger labor standards. The Rapid Response
Mechanism for labor standards should be improved, USMCA should include
concrete revisions to raise wages for workers in Mexico, and USMCA’s
rules-of-origin provisions should compel companies to pay higher wages,
particularly for the auto and aerospace industries.*

*Stronger Environmental Standards: Mexico has not adequately enforced
environmental standards, too often allowing corporations to cut corners.
That not only hurts the environment, it puts American-based operations at a
competitive disadvantage. Therefore, USMCA should be updated to extend the
Rapid Response Mechanism to cover environmental issues, and it should
include stronger measures to deter non-compliance, so companies don’t
simply sidestep environmental and other standards.*

*Close China’s Backdoor to U.S. Markets: Chinese companies in Mexico have
doubled their industrial footprint in recent years, using Mexico as a
backdoor into American markets and undermining our trade laws. To address
this, USMCA needs updated rules-of-origin requirements, and Mexico needs to
match the border measures that America and Canada have adopted to address
unfairly traded Chinese EVs, steel, and aluminum.*

*Fix Digital Trade and Other Issues: While USMCA made some improvements on
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it also included several
provisions that were worse, and these should be fixed during the mandatory
review. USMCA should be updated to remove special “digital trade” rights
and privileges that allow Big Tech to pre-empt laws Congress and state
legislatures have enacted to protect data privacy and security, right to
repair, online safety for children and more. USMCA should also eliminate
rules that effectively forbid use of Buy American or Buy Local procurement
standards; eliminate the remaining special foreign investor tribunals; and
eliminate special monopoly protections for pharmaceutical firms to raise
medicine prices.*

*Rebuilding American manufacturing requires American investments that
complement the strategic and targeted use of tariffs and other trade tools.
While American politicians and special interests have spent decades
offshoring jobs and hollowing out our industrial base, other nations have
done the opposite, investing substantially in their own manufacturing
capacity.*

*The CHIPS & Science Act promises to rebuild America’s semiconductor
industry, and the Inflation Reduction Act and other industrial policies
have generated the highest rate of factory investment in decades. These
investments will put America back on the forefront of advanced
manufacturing. With improvements to labor laws, these investments will also
create tens of thousands of good union jobs. We urge you to support and
improve these investments, not roll them back.*

*Fair trade and industrial policies require us to support the workers and
communities that lost jobs due to import competition. Programs like Trade
Adjustment Assistance (TAA) were supposed to soften the blow, but they have
been insufficient, and the program is currently lapsed. We therefore urge
you to support efforts to reauthorize and improve TAA to invest in American
workers and communities that have lost jobs because of flawed trade
policies.*

*Used in a strategic and targeted manner, tariffs can level the playing
field and give American workers a fighting chance to compete. That’s
especially true when American workers are forced to compete against
countries that use sweatshop labor, wreck the environment, manipulate
currency, and otherwise cheat. *

*To make sure that the corporations enjoying years of record profits–and
not workers or consumers–bear the costs of adjusting from the old trade
policy they promoted, tariffs must be accompanied by policies that stop
corporate price-gouging and stock buybacks, as well as policies that make
it easier to form a union. With these measures, tariffs can lead to
productive investment and higher wages, instead of providing another excuse
for companies to raise prices and pay out large dividends amidst record
high profits.*

*If not deployed strategically, tariffs have the potential to harm American
producers, and that’s especially true in rural areas with agricultural
economies. For decades, farmers have been squeezed by input costs that are
too high and prices that are too low. Our farmers deserve a
whole-of-government approach to address these longstanding challenges as
well as any impacts from changes in our trade policy. *

*We look forward to working with your U.S. Trade Representative to achieve
a new American trade policy that delivers for our constituents.*

*###*

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826
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