The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that it is seeking Mexico’s review of a labor rights complaint directed against a Tecnologia Modificada plant in Nuevo Laredo. Liquidation will be suspended for entries from the plant until further notice.

The Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the fifth negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, held in Malaysia Oct. 15-24, made progress "towards high-standard outcomes" in trade, clean economy and fair economy pillars. "Officials also continued discussions on next steps for the proposed IPEF Supply Chain Agreement (Pillar II) following substantial conclusion of negotiations in May and public release of the text on September 7th," their readout said.

The U.S asked Mexico to review whether there were labor violations at Asiaway Automotive Components Mexico, a Chinese-headquartered firm that does die casting and machining of aluminum parts in San Luis Potosi. According to Asiaway's website, the factory just opened in June this year, and another expansion is planned, until the factory has 1,700 workers. At that point, the company expects to have $800 million in annual sales from the site.

Manufacturas VU, the only manufacturer in Mexico to be subject to two rapid response complaints on labor rights, is closing and will have no more operations in Mexico, the U.S. government said.

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said it received 22 comments and three requests to participate in the China-focused hearing, which "subsequently were withdrawn," and the agency canceled the meeting as a result.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its Russia-focused hearing after receiving two comments and one request to participate in the hearing, which also was withdrawn.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 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 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.

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.

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.