US to Resume Liquidating Entries From Stellantis Plant Due to Rapid Response Complaint Resolution

The U.S. and Mexico successfully resolved a rapid response complaint over alleged violations of worker rights at the Teksid Hierro de Mexico plant in Frontera, Mexico (see 2206060046), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Aug. 16. The facility, which is owned by Stellantis, will take several steps meant to protect worker rights, USTR said. As a result of the resolution, USTR Katherine Tai instructed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to direct CBP to resume entry liquidations of goods from the factory, in an Aug. 16 letter.

Actions included in the course of remediation are providing office space to the union and reinstating back pay to workers that were terminated for participating in a protest, the agency said. “The labor and trade policies of the Biden-Harris administration continue to make workers’ interests a priority, and the outcome at the Teksid auto parts plant shows the benefits of these policies,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said. “The measures taken after invoking the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Rapid Response Mechanism will help end eight years of rights violations against Teksid workers and advance their freedom of association and ability to collectively bargain."

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said this result shows why lawmakers sought to have the rapid response mechanism included in the USMCA. "Over the last year, this groundbreaking trade policy tool has put both American workers and those in partner countries first," he said.