LatinNews Daily - 21 August 2023

* Mexico’s economy (SE) and labour (STPS) ministries have announced that the government has rejected a labour complaint filed by the US under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in relation to alleged workers’ rights violations at a facility of Japanese automotive parts supplier Yazaki Group in the central state of Guanajuato. In a joint statement, the SE and STPS stated Mexico will not carry out the review requested by the Office of the US Trade Representative under the USMCA’s Rapid Response Labour Mechanism (RRLM) on 7 August given that “there is no substantial evidence of employer interference or denial of freedom of association and collective bargaining rights by the company”. This is the second time this month that Mexico has declined to review a labour rights complaint, following the rejection of a complaint concerning a mine in Zacatecas state on 1 August. This is a further indication that the government is tiring of the frequent usage of the RRLM, a complaint first raised in a meeting of the USMCA Free Trade Commission (FTC) in July.