Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies · Minor

Replicate USMCA labor provisions in future free trade agreements

Not started

613 18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies

“For future FTAs, the USTR should replicate the labor provisions of USMCA, especially the provisions to: … Create a rapid-response mechanism to provide for an independent panel investigation of denial of labor rights at covered facilities.”

What has happened

  1. Not started

    The United States has concluded no new free trade agreement in the window, so there is no agreement in which to replicate the USMCA labor provisions, and in particular no new rapid-response labor mechanism. The trade instruments of the window are tariff actions and framework arrangements implemented by executive order — the United States-United Kingdom Economic Prosperity Deal (Executive Order 14309) and the United States-Japan Agreement (Executive Order 14345) — whose texts contain no labor provisions at all.

    No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • Negative search: chapter log, Cluster negative search — the trade asks (#1692, #1693, #1694, #1695, #1696).
  • Both orders were read at govinfo (FR-2025-06-23/html/2025-11473.htm and FR-2025-09-09/html/2025-17389.htm); neither contains a labor chapter, a rapid-response mechanism or any labor obligation.
  • The USMCA’s own rapid-response mechanism continues to operate under the existing agreement; that is the status quo, not this ask, which is about future FTAs.
Action
create
Object
Labor provisions of future free trade agreements
ID
1692