Mexico Declines to Advance Rapid Response Complaint for San Martin Mine

Mexico has rejected a rapid response mechanism complaint from the U.S. concerning employer actions at a lead, zinc and copper mine called San Martin, in Zacatecas state. This is the first time Mexico has disagreed with a request, but the government signaled this position during the trinational summit last month (see 2307070043).

At that meeting, Mexico argued that the alleged denial of union rights should have happened after USMCA entered into force, and that the plant should sell goods to U.S. buyers (or be U.S.-owned) if the U.S. brings the complaint.

In its Aug. 1 announcement that it did not support a rapid response investigation of the San Martin mine, the economy secretary disputed the U.S. characterization (see 2306160029) that the mine is operating with scab workers who were hired "without waiting for appropriate authorization from the Mexican courts." In the Mexican recounting of the dispute, it says that a strike began in 2007, and in 2018, the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board ruled that the strike ended with an agreement between Grupo Mexico and some workers. However, the government noted the decision was reversed on appeal in June, and said the union that originally went out on strike in 2007 was forced into that position through the employer's actions, and that those strikers are owed back pay.

Whether the 2018 action of the board was a denial of workers' rights in the scope of the trade deal is irrelevant, the Mexican government said, because the USMCA didn't come into force until 2020, and it said the rapid response mechanism is not retroactive. Mexico also said, according to an unofficial translation: "There is no evidence that said mine exports goods to the United States."

A spokesperson at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative declined to engage with Mexico's arguments and said the agency is in the process of reviewing Mexico's response.