The U.S. and Mexico resolved a labor complaint under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade involving the Panasonic Automotive Systems facility in Reynosa, Mexico, where workers were previously denied their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Thursday. Panasonic management in Reynosa agreed to reimburse workers for dues it had deducted for a union contract that workers didn't choose, and it negotiated a contract with an independent union that would provide a "significant wage increase," said USTR. Panasonic also agreed to rehire with back pay 26 workers allegedly fired for their union support, it said. USTR originally filed the complaint with the Mexican government after workers at the plant had already chosen the independent union by an overwhelming vote. Though USMCA's rapid response mechanism allows the U.S. to withdraw tariff benefits for goods shipped from a plant that violates labor rights, each complaint so far has been settled without monetary remedies.

The Biden administration “is committed to creating resilient and diversified supply chains,” and the multilateral trading system “can play a central role in this effort,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told the World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial Conference Sunday in Geneva. But “old habits and expectations” won’t be enough, she said. People around the world are challenging international institutions like the WTO “to work differently and better” by being “more responsive,” better at sharing information and better at keeping pace with technology’s speedy developments, she said. “I’ve spoken before about the need to demonstrate that we can work together to make the WTO relevant to the needs of regular people,” said Tai. “We must recapture a sense of common purpose and focus on what unites our work, rather than ideologies that divide us.” The WTO as a group has “an opportunity to send a clear message to the world that we will undertake a reform effort that is open and inclusive, that repositions the WTO to deliver on its foundational goals, and enables the organization to adapt to changing global realities,” she said. “That means the reform process must avoid being overly prescriptive at the outset. Good ideas come from everywhere. The process must be owned by the members.”

The National Retail Federation is mounting an ad campaign urging the White House to scrap the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports “to lower costs for businesses and consumers who are being severely impacted by inflation,” said the association Wednesday. The campaign, using broadcast, digital and out-of-home advertising, includes a 30-second TV spot called “Lower Inflation Now by Repealing Tariffs,” it said. Retailers encourage the White House “to work with our trading partners, particularly China, to roll back tariffs that contribute to the high cost of goods and services and provide much-needed relief for American consumers,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay said. “Tariffs are among the many costs out of retailers’ control that drive up prices paid by consumers. But unlike other costs, the administration can eliminate tariffs with the stroke of a pen.” Customs and Border Protection collected nearly $136.5 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods since the first of four rounds of duties took effect in July 2018.

The Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports “boost inflation and punish American consumers,” tweeted CTA President Gary Shapiro Thursday, referencing a Washington Post editorial headlined, “It’s time for Biden to lift Trump’s China tariffs.” One of the “many messes” former President Donald Trump left behind “are sweeping tariffs on thousands of Chinese products,” said the editorial. Trump’s trade war with Beijing “has been a flop, escalating costs for Americans and generating little but ire from China,” it said. “It’s past time" for President Joe Biden "to end this. He should not wait months for a formal review of the tariffs.”

The U.S. and Taiwan launched a bilateral “initiative” on 21st century trade that’s intended “to develop concrete ways to deepen” their economic and trade relationship and advance their “mutual trade priorities based on shared values,” said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Wednesday. The U.S. and Taiwan “are market-oriented economies and understand the harm that can be caused by trade partners that deploy non-market policies and practices,” said USTR in a veiled reference to China. “Both sides believe in building consumer trust in the digital economy, promoting access to information, facilitating use of digital technologies, promoting resilient and secure digital infrastructure, and addressing discriminatory and trade-distortive practices in the digital economy.” News of the collaboration likely won’t sit well with Beijing, which warned the U.S. Tuesday to “immediately stop official exchanges with Taiwan in any form.” The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t comment about Wednesday’s U.S.-Taiwan announcement.

“No one will win” in a China-U.S. tariff war, said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Tuesday, responding to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s comments that the Biden administration needs to be “strategic” in deciding whether to lift the Section 301 duties on Chinese imports. “Against the backdrop of high inflation, the removal of tariffs on China by the U.S. serves the fundamental interests of American consumers and businesses,” said the spokesperson. “It will be good for the U.S., China and the world at large.” The U.S. needs to keep “our eye on the ball in terms of how to effectively realign the U.S.-China trade and economic relationship,” Tai told Bloomberg News Monday. “I know there’s a lot of talk around tariffs right now” amid “global economic dynamics,” exacerbated by the “impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” said Tai. “All options are on the table in terms of how we address our short-term economic needs.”

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Panasonic Automotive Systems de Mexico facility in Reynosa are being denied the rights of free association and collective bargaining. By doing so, USTR is endorsing an April 18 request from Rethink Trade and a Mexican union that was, at the time, trying to win a union vote at the factory (see 2204200029). The two groups' complaint said Panasonic fired more than 60 workers who supported the independent union, and the alternative union, Confederacion de Trabajadores de Mexico (CTM), was offering bribes to workers to get their votes. They also said Panasonic signed a contract with CTM before the vote, and started withholding union dues almost a month before the vote. Tai asked for the review under the USMCA's Rapid Response Mechanism. “Along with Secretary Marty Walsh and his team at the Department of Labor, we have worked closely with the Mexican government to address Rapid Response Labor Mechanism matters quickly, and I look forward to doing the same on this issue as well,” Tai said in a news release May 18. Liquidation will be suspended for imports from the factory until the complaint is resolved. The Mexican Embassy didn't return a request for comment.

World Trade Organization ratification of a third Information Technology Agreement “would bring many important emerging technologies driving the global digital economy under ITA coverage” and would “further bridge the digital divide,” said more than three dozen global tech trade associations, including CTA, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, CompTIA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association. The first two ITAs “increased employment, made innovative tech products more affordable to consumers,” and “bridged communities across the globe in ways unimagined when the original agreement was launched 25 years ago,” they said. “Another round of ITA product expansion, coupled with expansion of the geographic scope of the agreement, would yield immediate and sweeping benefits,” they said. No new technologies have been added to the agreement since its second iteration, which passed in 2015, they said: "We therefore call on ITA members to support launching another ambitious new round of negotiations to further expand this critically important agreement and carry forward the robust momentum produced by the original ITA and its 2015 expansion."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, meeting in Washington Thursday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, emphasized the Biden administration’s plans “to develop an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that delivers concrete, economically meaningful benefits to the region,” said a readout from her office. China believes any “regional cooperation framework” in the Asia-Pacific “should meet the trend of the times for peace and development,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Thursday when asked about US IPEF ambitions. Asia-Pacific is a “promising” region for cooperation and development, “not a chessboard for geopolitical contest,” he said.

The U.S. “tariff war” on China does "nobody" any good, and “it’s time for the U.S. administration to reconsider and to cancel it as early as possible,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wednesday when asked at his regular news conference to comment on President Joe Biden’s remarks that the White House was “discussing” the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports in the context of curbing inflation. “We're looking at what would have the most positive impact,” Biden told reporters Tuesday. “No decision has been made on it.” “Tariffs imposed unilaterally by the U.S. on China are not in the interest of China, the U.S. or the whole world,” said the spokesperson.