CBP will resume liquidation of parts manufactured in León, Mexico, after the U.S. and Mexico reached a resolution on a rapid response labor complaint for the Grupo Yazaki auto parts factory.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative canceled two public hearings on China's and Russia's compliance with World Trade Organization commitments, the agency announced this week. USTR said it received 22 comments and three requests to participate in the China-focused hearing, which "subsequently were withdrawn," and the agency canceled the meeting as a result. USTR also canceled its Russia-focused hearing after receiving two comments and one request to participate in the hearing, which also was withdrawn. The hearing on China had been scheduled to take place Oct. 4; the meeting on Russia, Oct. 12.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in a Federal Register notice published Sept. 29, asked for applications from people who would like to serve on panels that review final determinations in antidumping or countervailing duty proceedings and amendments to AD/CVD statutes of a USMCA Party. These people would be on the roster from April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. Applications are due by Nov. 30, and can be submitted at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2023-0011.

The panel deciding whether Mexico's policy on genetically modified corn breaks the rules of the USMCA will probably rule by March 2024, Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro said at a press conference in Washington after the High Level Economic Dialogue meetings Sept. 29.

The U.S. has asked Mexico to review a new USMCA rapid response labor complaint against a Teklas automotive parts plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, the Labor Department said in a Sept. 25 news release. The request from DOL and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative follows a complaint filed in August by a Mexican labor union that claims Teklas is violating workers’ freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai laid out her priorities for reforming the World Trade Organization, providing concrete options that the U.S. and other WTO members can take to reinvigorate the international trade forum. In a Sept. 22 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Tai said that the biggest tenets of WTO reform revolve around "improving transparency," rebuilding the body's ability to negotiate new rules for new challenges and dispute settlement reform.

An official from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative told Bangladesh "that supporting workers’ rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration," according to a USTR readout of the Sept. 20 U.S.-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement Council meeting.

The U.S. and African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary countries will meet in South Africa Nov. 2-4 to discuss how to strengthen trade and investment between the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa, and promote resilient, sustainable and inclusive economic development. “AGOA has helped to promote the export of African goods to the United States, and we believe there is scope to deepen its impact on African industrialization," South African Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel said. "An extension of AGOA beyond 2025 will promote inward investment in Africa and provide benefits to both the United States and African countries."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports of goods and services to help write the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. Comments are due by the end of the day Oct. 23, and should be submitted at regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2023-0010.

Although the office of the U.S. Representative has already received nearly 1,500 comments on "worker-centered trade," the office has re-opened comments that closed Aug. 11. It is now accepting ideas on trade policies and actions to advance racial and gender equity, advance equity for rural communities or other underserved categories, as well as ideas on how to advance these values through stakeholder engagement.