The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) told the Treasury Department to restart liquidation of pending import entries from Alimentos Grole, S.A. de C.V.’s Mexican plant after a labor rights plan was implemented.
Liquidation sets the final duty assessment for an import entry. The direction applies to unliquidated goods entries from the company’s pork and chicken processing plant in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. The United States suspended that customs step when it requested a Mexican review on Aug. 28, 2025.
USTR said Oct. 19 that nine dismissed employees returned to work and received full backpay and benefits. Two others chose full severance. Alimentos Grole also dissolved a labor committee aligned with management and adopted rules allowing the SITIES union access to the plant.
Current and former workers affiliated with SITIES had petitioned U.S. authorities in July 2025. They alleged that threats, dismissals and company support for the committee were intended to discourage union activity. Mexico determined on Oct. 10, 2025, that workers had been denied freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.
The two governments agreed on a plan under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism. Dated Jan. 28, the plan set March 31 as its overall deadline. USTR described it as the 12th formal remediation plan the governments had agreed under the mechanism.
Mexico’s labor ministry said April 16 that it had verified implementation, trained workers on their rights and provided a way to submit anonymous complaints. The ministry said 12 people received backpay, benefits or compensation. USTR’s February announcement had called for remedies for 12 workers.
USTR’s Oct. 19 breakdown specifies outcomes for 11 workers: the nine reinstated and the two who chose severance. Neither government explained the difference between that count and the earlier figure.
