WASHINGTON – The Office of the United States Trade Representative has invoked the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to review whether workers at Corporación de Occidente, S.A. de C.V., located in the city of El Salto in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The United States has suspended liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the Corporación de Occidente facility, which manufactures automotive and specialty tires.
Background
The United States Trade Representative and the Secretary of Labor co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On October 28, 2025, the ILC received an RRM petition from two dismissed workers at the Corporación de Occidente facility. The petition alleges that the company and leadership of the incumbent union at the facility acted together to dismiss and retaliate against workers who spoke out against the union or its leaders and sought to promote greater transparency and democratic representation within the union. The ILC reviews RRM petitions that it receives, and the accompanying information, within 30 days.
After conducting this review, the ILC determined that there is sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms. As a result, the United States Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico to review whether workers at the Corporación de Occidente facility are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Mexico has 10 days to agree to conduct a review and, if it agrees, 45 days from today to complete the review.
A copy of the request for review can be found here.
A copy of the letter to the Secretary of the Treasury can be found here.
Information about previous requests can be found here.
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