27 Jul U.S. forced-labor tariffs put spotlight on landmark Mexican court case over USMCA enforcement
- Empower and ProDESC challenge Mexican authorities’ refusal to investigate Xinjiang-linked surveillance imports as a new 10% U.S. tariff on Mexican goods takes effect.
MEXICO CITY, July 27, 2026 — A landmark lawsuit challenging Mexico’s failure to effectively enforce the USMCA prohibition on imports made with forced labor has gained new attention after the United States imposed a 10% Section 301 tariff on most Mexican goods, citing shortcomings in Mexico’s enforcement of its forced-labor import ban.
The case, brought by Mexico City-based organizations after Mexican authorities refused to investigate imports of surveillance equipment linked to Xinjiang, seeks to establish whether Mexico has a workable mechanism to identify and stop goods made wholly or in part with forced labor from entering its market and North American supply chains.
The case began in 2022, after the municipal government of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and other cities along Mexico’s northern border acquired facial recognition surveillance equipment manufactured by the Chinese companies Dahua and Hikvision.
Both companies are currently banned by the United States over national security concerns and are linked through their supply chains to factories in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, where the use of state-imposed forced labor against ethnic minorities has been widely documented.
In August 2023, Empower filed a petition with Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) —the enforcement authority— requesting an investigation into those acquisitions. However, STPS dismissed the petition on the grounds that the petitioner was required to provide customs information, even though that information is protected by law and cannot be accessed without the cooperation of the very authorities refusing to investigate.
Following the dismissal, ProDESC filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the Mexican authorities to comply with Mexico’s USMCA obligations. In March 2026, the Full Bench of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice (TFJA) agreed to hear the case, recognizing its “special significance.” The court’s decision is now pending, but if the ruling is unfavorable, the case is likely to proceed to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), Mexico’s highest court.
To date, this is the only publicly known case in Mexico to squarely test whether the federal government has any effective mechanism to identify and stop the importation of goods made with forced labor.
Transcripts of recent hearings reviewed by ProDESC and Empower indicate that a total of two cases involving three Chinese textile companies and one Indian steel company are currently under investigation under Mexico’s USMCA forced labor mechanism. However, no information beyond the existence of those cases has been made public. Freedom of Information requests seeking further information have been submitted and are currently awaiting a response.
Since 2022, the United States has blocked nearly 3.94 billion USD worth of imports under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), publishing shipment-level enforcement data. Mexico, by contrast, has not publicly reported in the official website a single import rejected under an equivalent standard, even though the obligation contained in Article 23.6 of the USMCA was incorporated into Mexican law in February 2023.
That gap has already become part of the USMCA review process, and the administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum must now address it effectively or risk having the country face sanctions.
On July 23, the United States imposed tariffs on 60 countries over failures to prevent goods made with forced labor from entering their supply chains. A month earlier, Washington had already proposed an additional 10% tariff specifically on Mexico for the same reason.
In this context, the Mexican president and her USMCA negotiating team, led by Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, have an opportunity to take the lead on an issue where Mexico currently lacks effective enforcement, rather than waiting for pressure from Washington.
With the USMCA review now underway and the Empower-ProDESC case representing the most advanced legal precedent on this issue, the conditions are in place for Mexico’s failure to enforce its forced labor commitments to become not only a matter of diplomatic discussion, but also one of sustained public scrutiny in both Mexico and the United States.
About Empower
Founded in 2013, Empower works to strengthen civil society and improve corporate accountability by closing the information gap between civil society stakeholders and the corporations they engage with. As advocates, organizers, and researchers, we work to generate social impact while building new revenue streams and a democratic, worker-owned economic model.
About ProDESC
The Project on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, A.C. (ProDESC), is a feminist organization with an intersectional perspective and a transnational reach. It defends and promotes economic, social, and cultural rights through a comprehensive advocacy approach that supports community-led processes in three key areas: the right to land and territory, labor and human rights, and the right to defend rights. Its work seeks to strengthen the justiciability and enforceability of these rights in order to build a just and equitable society.
Media Contact
Valeria Berumen Ornelas
Strategic Communications Coordinator
ProDESC – Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project
Email: comunicacion.estrategica@prodesc.org.mx
Phone/WhatsApp: +52 551503 2410
Mexico City, Mexico