Less than two weeks after the U.S. and Mexico announced a resolution to a Rapid Response Mechanism complaint over labor violations at a General Motors plant in Mexico (see 2107090019), the second vote at the plant in Silao resulted in a rejection of the protection union. The complaint was brought because that same protection union did ballot-stuffing and intimidated workers during the first vote, advocates said.
The Mexican government has asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for formal consultations under USMCA's dispute resolution process over a disagreement on how the auto rules of origin should work. Mexico says that when it agreed to a 75% regional value content standard at the end of the phase-in period, its negotiators were assuming that once a part is considered originating, its value should count as North American as you move to assemblies, and ultimately, to the vehicle as a whole. So, Mexico says that in the text on the rules of origin, if a core part is originating, its full value is counted in a super-core part, such as an engine, and if that engine is originating, its value counts in the RVC for the vehicle as a whole.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Aug. 17. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 9-13 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Aug. 10. The following headquarters rulings were modified recently, according to CBP:
CBP's plans to extend the Part 102 marking rules from NAFTA to USMCA determinations of country of origin for nonpreferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045) lacks the legal justifications needed to finalize the proposal, Novolex Holdings, a packaging conglomerate owned by the Carlyle Group, said in comments to the agency. "As proposed, such origin determinations would no longer abide by the precedent developed in over a century of determinations by the federal courts," the company said. The comments were posted Aug. 11 in the docket.
Two longtime career staffers at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative have been nominated for deputy USTR positions. Maria Pagán, the deputy general counsel at the agency, has been chosen to serve as ambassador to the World Trade Organization. According to an announcement from the White House, Pagán handled the implementation package for USMCA and was the lead lawyer in the USMCA negotiation. USTR Katherine Tai said, "María Pagán has proven to be a shrewd negotiator with an unparalleled knowledge of our trade agreements that will serve the United States well as we re-establish relationships with our trading partners and work to reform the World Trade Organization."
Autoparts maker Tridonex, a subsidiary of Cardone Industries, agreed to offer back pay to more than 150 employees who used to work at its Matamoros plant and to remain neutral as the workers at that plant vote on whether to reject the protection union and choose an independent union. A protection union is a union that is in league with the company, rather than an independent voice for workers.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 2-6 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP's proposed use of Part 102 marking rules to determine the country of origin for nonpreferential claims and procurement under USMCA (see 2107010045) should be made optional for importers or withdrawn by the agency, Cisco and the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) said in comments recently filed in the docket. While CBP says the use of tariff shift rules should result in the same origin finding as the alternative “case-by-case” review, “in practice there are cases where the two methods yield different origin determinations,” CompTIA said in its comments. “This is particularly the case with technology products where programming or software can have an impact on substantial transformation. The Part 102 rules consider only a tariff shift of hardware components and ignore any impact of programming and software on substantial transformation.”