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 Madobox, S.A. de C.V. (Madobox), located in the city of Uruapan in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The U.S. request for review follows an RRM petition received from a Mexican labor union alleging that Madobox is interfering with union activity at the facility. The United States has suspended liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the Madobox facility, which produces boxes for commercial use.
Background
The United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative) and the Secretary of Labor co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement (ILC). On September 30, 2026, the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores y Empleados de la Industria del Comercio, Alimenticia, Textil, Automotriz, Metalúrgica, Servicios y Distribución “Generalísimo José María Morelos y Pavón”—a Mexican labor union affiliated with the Confederacion Central Nacional (COCENA)—filed a Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) petition alleging a denial of rights at Madobox. The petition alleges that Madobox is interfering with union activity at the facility, including by unlawfully arranging a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was negotiated without workers, by coercing and misinforming workers about the CBA and their union rights, and by unlawfully dismissing workers in retaliation for union activity. 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 under the USMCA. As a result, the Trade Representative has submitted a request to Mexico under Annex 31-A of the USMCA that Mexico review whether workers at Madobox are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The Trade Representative has also directed the Secretary of the Treasury to suspend liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from Madobox.
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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