The United States on Monday requested Mexico to review labor rights issues at Grupo Yazaki‘s automotive components factory located in the state of Guanajuato.

For the seventh time in 2023, and twelfth time overall, the United States requested Mexico’s review under the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism of the Mexico-U.S.-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that the U.S. has asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Grupo Yazaki plant are being denied the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The Planta Leon plant, owned by parent company Yazaki Corporation, produces electrical components for automobiles.

The request, which was made in response to a petition, has formally invoked the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the USMCA.

Grupo Yazaki

In connection with the U.S. request, Tai has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to suspend final clearance of customs accounts related to entries of goods from Yazaki Group facilities.

The U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Labor co-chair the Interagency Labor Monitoring and Compliance Committee (ILC).

Earlier, on July 5, the ILC received an RRM petition from Casa Obrera del Bajio, a Mexican labor organization.

The petition alleged a series of irregularities that occurred during the March 31 «standing» vote in which workers voted on whether to maintain the existing collective bargaining agreement.

The ILC reviews RRM petitions it receives, as well as accompanying information, within 30 days.

In response to the petition, the ILC determined that there is sufficient and credible evidence of a denial of rights to invoke the enforcement mechanisms in good faith.

As a result, the U.S. Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico to review whether workers at the Yazaki Group facilities are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.