The U.S. Department of Labor announced a resolution of the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter at the Grupo Yazaki, S.A. de C.V. facility located in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. The department added that it resumed liquidation of tariffs on goods from the facility, which manufactures automotive components, wire harnesses and electronic components.
On October 20, 2025, the Interagency Labor Committee (ILC) received an RRM petition from Sindicato Independiente Nacional de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de la Industria Automotriz, a Mexican independent union. The petition alleged that Yazaki and an incumbent union at the facility violated workers’ rights by interfering in employees’ union activity and retaliating against workers because of their attempts to organize an independent union at the facility. The ILC determined that there was sufficient, credible evidence of a denial of rights enabling the good faith invocation of enforcement mechanisms.
As a result, on November 19, 2025, the United States Trade Representative submitted a request to Mexico to review the matter. Mexico accepted the request, conducted an investigation and worked with Yazaki to implement measures aimed at safeguarding freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. The U.S. has reviewed the matter and concluded the situation to have been remediated.
“The resolution represents real progress in protecting American workers’ ability to compete in trade, requiring Mexican manufacturers to comply with Mexican law and the provisions of the USMCA,” the Labor Department said in a statement.
The United States‑Mexico‑Canada Agreement’s innovative enforcement tool, the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, enables the U.S. government to act quickly and directly at the facility level when workers in Mexico are denied the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. The United States Trade Representative and the Secretary of Labor co-chair the ILC for Monitoring and Enforcement that coordinates U.S. efforts related to enforcement actions on USMCA labor obligations, including the RRM.
The Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative facilitated a resolution with the Government of Mexico to remediate workers’ claims at Yazaki. Actions taken by Yazaki to address the matter include:
- Issuing a neutrality statement and company guidelines related to freedom of association and collective bargaining
- Adopting a policy to respect the rights of minority unions that do not hold ownership of the collective bargaining agreement
- Signing a letter of commitment to deliver the neutrality statement and company guidelines to workers, train workers on the same, provide space for Mexico’s Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare to train workers on freedom of association and collective bargaining and publish and disseminate to workers the company’s minority union policy
Actions taken by Mexico to address the matter include:
- Delivering in-person trainings for all company personnel on freedom of association and collective bargaining
- Monitoring the facility and engaging with the workers and the company throughout its review period
Based on these measures, the U.S. Trade Representative directed the Secretary of the Treasury to resume liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the facility.
