Mexico announced that it will examine whether the Panasonic Automotive Systems plant in Reynosa violated the rights of its workers (see 2205180061) under the provisions of the USMCA.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hailed a new contract between General Motors and the union workers chose in Silao, Mexico, saying it will raise wages. "Because of the ground-breaking labor protections in the USMCA, we’ve seen that workers no longer have to tolerate contracts negotiated behind their backs and have the right to vote on an agreement after it's negotiated," she said in a statement. "The USMCA’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism helped workers get to this vote, and the United States will continue to work with Mexico to protect worker rights.”
Requests for action from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should go beyond asking USTR to go and fix a problem via the World Trade Organization, USMCA or other dispute settlement system, said Daniel Stirk, senior associate general counsel at the agency. Speaking on a panel at the Georgetown International Trade Update, Stirk said that instead, trust that the office is already aware of the issue and is taking steps to solve it, and if you still decide to approach USTR, come with thoughtful solutions.
As companies work to move assembly out of China so that the goods they export to the U.S. won't be hit with Section 301 tariffs, they have to grapple with the fact that CBP may still consider a good made in Mexico, Malaysia, Vietnam or elsewhere to be a product of China if enough of its innards were made in China.
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A half-dozen countries that negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- including two that never ratified it -- and Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and India agreed to start negotiating agreements with the United States on trade, supply chains, digital standards, anti-corruption, and tax and investment from the U.S. for decarbonization and infrastructure.
The White House announced May 18 that the president is invoking the Defense Production Act in response to the infant formula shortage, which will require that suppliers send inputs to infant formula manufacturers ahead of other customers, and will direct the Pentagon to use its commercial air cargo contracts to transport formula from foreign factories that have met FDA safety standards. The White House is calling that Operation Fly Formula. "Bypassing regular air freighting routes will speed up the importation and distribution of formula and serve as an immediate support as manufacturers continue to ramp up production," the administration said.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Panasonic Automotive Systems de Mexico facility in Reynosa are being denied the rights of free association and collective bargaining. By doing so, USTR is endorsing an April 18 request from Rethink Trade and a Mexican union that was, at the time, trying to win a union vote at the factory (see 2204190031). The two groups' complaint said that Panasonic fired more than 60 workers who supported the independent union, and that the captive union, Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM), was offering bribes to workers to get their votes. They also said that Panasonic signed a contract with CTM before the vote, and started withholding union dues almost a month before the vote.
Former Mexican ambassadors to the U.S. and a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico expressed anxiety that Mexico is not able to capitalize on the move to nearshore or friendshore for a variety of reasons.
At a joint press conference in Ottawa, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Canadian trade minister Mary Ng did not reveal any agreements on trade irritants, but emphasized that they can work out their differences with the trust they share and the strong relationship between the neighboring countries. It was Tai's first trip to Canada since becoming USTR, and she had a full schedule planned, meeting with small businesses, labor groups, and touring a General Motors facility in Markham, Ontario.