About 10% of critical raw materials, as measured by value, faced export restrictions in the last decade, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development -- and the use of restrictions grew five-fold in the 2017-2019 period, compared with the two-year period 10 years earlier. Export taxes are the most frequent restriction, the authors said, adding: "This may be related to the fact that, under WTO rules, quantitative restrictions on exports are generally prohibited while export taxes are not."

A senior official in the Indonesian government told Reuters that his country will ask the U.S. to agree to a mini trade deal for critical minerals, such as the one it granted Japan, so that Indonesian nickel can qualify under a content threshold for friendshored critical minerals. However, the Japan deal requires no export restrictions in the sector, and Indonesia has blocked nickel exports in the past. Also, Indonesia's processing industry is intertwined with Chinese companies, and the Inflation Reduction Act explicitly is designed to cut China out of the electric vehicle battery supply chain.

Trade ministers from the U.S., Japan, the EU, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany and Italy said they will work for "necessary reform" at the World Trade Organization, including trying to reach an agreement to restore "a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all Members by 2024."

The office of the Mexican Economy Secretary said it agrees with the U.S. that there is reason to investigate Unique Fabricating, a Michigan-headquartered manufacturer that makes foam, rubber and plastic components such as seals, door water shields, gaskets and glove box liners. Transformation Sindical told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that managers at the plant in Queretaro, Mexico, denied them the ability to visit with workers at the site and give them the option of joining their union (see 2303090038). Mexico's government said March 17 that it will begin an investigation to see if workers at the plant were denied their rights to join an independent union. The USMCA Rapid Response Mechanism allows 45 days for that investigation.

Mexico is beginning consultations on how to remediate violations at Manufacturas VU, a Michigan-headquartered supplier of interior automotive trims, after its investigation found serious irregularities, and found that the company placed obstacles for its workers to choose their own union and to collectively bargain. The office of the Economy Secretary made the announcement March 16. It is the second time VU's plant in Piedras Negras has been the subject of a Rapid Response Mechanism complaint from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Mexico and the U.S. have 10 days to put forward a remediation plan. So far, no fines or curtailed tariff benefits have been imposed on Mexican exporters targeted in the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism under USMCA. This is the only plant with repeated complaints (see 2301300030).

A trade group for the Mexican steel industry, CANACERO, warned that Mexico likely will retaliate against U.S. steel exports if the U.S. reimposes 25% tariffs on Mexican steel -- and the U.S. exports much more steel to Mexico than vice versa.

The World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system should be "fully functioning" by the end of 2024, U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Maria Pagan told Reuters. Pagan made the remarks as the U.S. is heading into a third phase of negotiations with other WTO members about how to reform the global trade organization after the Appellate Body has been hobbled for years by U.S. unwillingness to seat members on the body.

The U.S. expressed some positive views on the first decision of the World Trade Organization's multiparty interim appeal arbitration arrangement (MPIA) concerning Colombia's antidumping duties on frozen fries from various EU countries. Speaking during the Dispute Settlement Body's Jan. 27 meeting, the U.S. said it welcomes the MPIA's "willingness to adopt an interpretation" it sees as consistent with the Anti-Dumping Agreement, "even and especially if the interpretation differs from the Appellate Body's erroneous views."

The U.S. will appeal a World Trade Organization dispute panel ruling that found its origin marking requirement for goods from Hong Kong violated global trade rules. Submitting its notification of appeal during the Jan. 27 meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, the U.S. said it was taking the matter to the defunct Appellate Body concurrent with separate panel rulings that said the Section 232 national security tariffs also violated WTO commitments.

The top trade official in the EU, Valdis Dombrovskis, said that he would talk about the changes they want to the Inflation Reduction Act during his planned meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Jan. 17. He said there have been improvements on how the tax credits for electrical vehicles will be applied, but said, "We're continuing to work on supplies and inputs into batteries and how to make some progress there," as well as other areas.