Mexico – United States bilateral meeting
The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) received on Tuesday, June 8, the Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris, at the National Palace to discuss immigration, economic growth, investment and welfare issues.
Memorandum of Understanding for International Cooperation
Also during the visit, the President of Mexico and the Vice President of the United States were witnesses of honor at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for international cooperation to address the structural causes of migration. The signing took place between the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Bilateral Commitments
Finally, during the bilateral meeting, the following commitments were reached with the purpose of increasing economic growth, investment and welfare:
- High-Level Economic Dialogue, seeking to revive this previous key forum.
- Cabinet-Level Security Dialogue
- Strengthen Labor Cooperation
- Work Together To Address Root Causes of Migration in Central America
- Operations Group on Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking:
- Attract Investment to Southern Mexico, which will focus to rural value chains and other social, business and logistical components. We highlight that there was no express reference to the Isthmus Corredor which is an allegedly “priority” government program.
- Partnership to Resolve Disappearances Cases in Mexico
Fuente: El financiero, Contralínea, Secretaría de Economía, The White House Briefing Room
Mexico – Hong Kong Bilateral Investment Treaty
On June 11, 2021, the Bilateral Investment agreement was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation and became binding on June 16, 2021.
As detailed in our June 11 Legal Alert, the agreement will serve as a regulatory framework to provide investors from both regions with fair, equitable and, non-discriminatory treatment in their investments.
This will increase investor confidence and expand investment flows between Hong Kong and Mexico.
Rapid Response Labor Mechanism USMCA
The Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) is a dispute resolution procedure aimed at strengthening compliance with the labor commitments made under the USMCA.
As we explained in detail in our May 14 Trading Room, on May 10 the AFL-CIO filed, along with other organizations, a Rapid Response petition against Tridonex, an auto-parts manufacturer located in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
In this regard, the Interagency Labor Monitoring and Enforcement Committee (the “Committee“) determined that there is credible and sufficient information of a denial of labor rights at the facility.
As a result, on 9 June 2021 the U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, and U.S. Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, requested Mexico to review whether workers at the Tridonex automotive parts facility in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, are being denied the rights of free association and collective bargaining.
In this regard, Mexico issued a press release that they will review the US request.
What’s Next for the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism?
Mexico has 10 days to accept or deny the USTR´s request to review the alleged denial of rights per the RRM, and, in case of accepting, Mexico will have to provide a report within 45 days of the request.
For more relevant information about the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, the following presentations are available.
Fuente: Secretaría de Economía, Office of the USTR
