Less than two weeks after the U.S. and Mexico announced a resolution to a Rapid Response Mechanism complaint over labor violations at a General Motors plant in Mexico (see 2107090019), the second vote at the plant in Silao resulted in a rejection of the protection union. The complaint was brought because that same protection union did ballot-stuffing and intimidated workers during the first vote, advocates said.

The Mexican government says the U.S. has agreed to immediately work to schedule visits of U.S. authorities to Mexico to review how commercial fishing of shrimp is protecting endangered sea turtles. The U.S. banned the import of shrimp from Mexico earlier this year over the issue (see 2105040034). Mexico sent its agriculture secretary and the head of the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission, among others, to argue for the lifting of the ban. “The Mexican delegation shows the importance that the President of Mexico gives to this issue, something that was recognized by the representatives of the United States,” Mexico said in an Aug. 12 news release, according to an unofficial translation.

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said there is now political support to move forward on an agreement to curb subsidies that lead to overfishing. The draft text has been blessed by all the heads of delegations in Geneva, she said in a news conference July 15.

As countries around the world work on a agreement on how companies can be taxed, the European Union is delaying a planned digital services tax, many news outlets are reporting. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has proposed goods that would be subject to additional tariffs because digital services taxes were determined to be discriminatory, but all those tariffs are on hold as tax negotiations continue.

The European Union and the U.S. working together have the leverage to change China's distortions in the world economy, experts speaking during a three-day series on EU-U.S. trade issues said. But it's not easy, with the economic interests of German manufacturers in China, the history of trade tensions across the Atlantic, and bureaucratic torpor on both sides, they said.

The moderator of a panel on the results of the president's visit to Europe asked the European Union's ambassador to the U.S., Stavros Lambrinidis, what he would say to critics who say that nothing was solved on the EU-U.S. irritants? Those critics say that the can was just kicked down the road.

The Mexican government told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that it will look into the allegation that workers' rights were violated at the Tridonex plant in Matamoros, and that it will share the results of the review no later than July 24. The Mexican government sent the letter June 18, it announced in a June 19 press release. The AFL-CIO had asked USTR to bring the complaint under the Rapid Response mechanism of USMCA, and USTR agreed to do so (see 2106100011).

The commerce secretaries of the U.S. and China agreed to promote trade and investment ties during a phone call June 10, China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Both Gina Raimondo and Wang Wentao, respectively, “exchanged views frankly and pragmatically on relevant issues and mutual concerns,” the ministry said, according to an unofficial translation. “The two sides stated that dialogue and exchanges in the field of Sino-U.S. business are very important and agreed to promote the healthy development of pragmatic cooperation in trade and investment and properly handle differences.”

The European Union's ambassador to the U.S. said that as the world watches the European Union-U.S. summit in a week, they will be looking to see that “we are capable of resolving quickly and effectively our bilateral trade irritants.” He said they also want to see “that we can work and will work together to address the new challenges that sit on the nexus of technology and trade and security.” He said that export controls and cyber security measures are some of the ways to address those challenges, and there should be an announcement at the conference on those matters.

China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian denied any forced labor exists in the Xinjiang province when asked about a Uniqlo shipment stopped by CBP over the possible use cotton from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (see 2105130031). "There is no 'forced labor' in Xinjiang, only voluntary employment and free choice in the labor market," he said during a May 19 press conference, according to a transcript the ministry provided. "Certain Western politicians and anti-China forces spread lies to suppress certain companies and industries in China under the pretext of human rights, as part of their sinister conspiracy of containing China's development by disrupting Xinjiang," he said, according to an unofficial translation.