Liquidation of Entries Suspended for VU Once More

After getting public pressure from House Democrats on labor practices at Manufacturas VU, a Michigan-headquartered supplier of interior automotive trims, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has opened a second rapid response request with Mexico about what's happening at the plant in Piedras Negras.

“A core tenet of the Biden Administration’s worker-centered trade policy is ensuring workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain without fear of retribution or intimidation. Despite this facility taking positive actions in 2022, some of the failures we identified previously appear to be recurring,” USTR Katherine Tai said in a news release announcing the action.

As a result, liquidation of VU entries from this plant is suspended. So far, no fines or curtailed tariff benefits have been imposed on Mexican exporters targeted in the labor rapid response mechanism under USMCA.

The original complaint was that VU was discouraging workers from leaving the captive union and choosing La Liga, and it was settled in September. In January, five House Democrats noted that La Liga filed a complaint that the company was not bargaining in good faith, and that it had allowed members of the captive union to threaten La Liga members (see 2301110030).

VU did not respond to a request for comment by our publishing deadline.