The U.S. requested three more panels under the rapid response labor mechanism in the USMCA to investigate three Mexican manufacturing facilities. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that the U.S. and Mexico "were not able to agree on a plan for the full resolution of workers’ concerns at their facilities," and so USTR activated the dispute settlement panel under USMCA.

The U.S. requested a panel under the rapid response mechanism in the USMCA for the third time to investigate a Canadian mining facility located in Mexico. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that the U.S. and Mexico were unable to come to an agreement and so "the United States therefore has determined that it is appropriate to request a panel to verify the facility’s compliance with Mexican labor laws."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced eligibility for “trade surplus” tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for sugar originating in certain free trade agreement countries for calendar year 2025. USTR found Colombia, Panama and five members of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement -- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua -- eligible for the TRQ. The agency found that Chile, the Dominican Republic, Morocco and Peru don't qualify.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in preparation for its April Special 301 Report on countries that don't provide adequate protection of intellectual property rights, is seeking comments as well as requests to testify at a Feb. 19 hearing.

Facing Fentanyl, the Victims of Illicit Drugs and Families Against Fentanyl withdrew their Section 301 petition that asked the U.S. Trade Representative to double the 25% tariffs on Section 301 tariffs on lists 1 and 2 and asked the government to exclude Chinese goods from de minimis (see 2410180039).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking applications from Native Americans, Native Hawaiians and Native Alaskans who want to serve as an indigenous peoples' representative on the observer delegation to the Partnership Council of the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement. Applications for the two-year terms are due by Dec. 6 at 5 p.m. EST. Applications should be sent to mbx.ustr.iape@ustr.eop.gov.

The U.S. asked Mexico to review labor violations at Odisa Concrete Equipment in Hidalgo, Mexico, as part of the rapid response labor mechanism. Liquidation has been suspended for entries of the manufacturing equipment for concrete the plant makes.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking applications for people who can serve on dispute panels reviewing final determinations in antidumping or countervailing duty proceedings when the exporter is from Mexico or Canada. The service period will begin April 1 and run through March 31, 2026. Applications are due by Nov. 29.

Less than a month from the election, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves invited U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to speak at his company's Coatesville, Pennsylvania, mill about how recent policy has supported steelworkers.

Global steel excess capacity is reaching "crisis levels," which distorts trade and drives the price of steel down, displacing market-based production, said Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Small Business, Market Access, and Industrial Competitiveness Sushan Demirjian.