Geneva, Switzerland - The International Labour Organization, the UN's labor agency, has scrapped the appointment of Trump administration official Sheng Li as its deputy director-general over Washington's failure to pay its dues.

The agency's director-general, Gilbert Houngbo, "has decided to rescind the appointment of the deputy director-general, considering continued delays in the payment of arrears", the ILO said in a statement.

"Mr. Sheng Li (United States of America) will therefore not assume the position of deputy director-general in July as previously foreseen."

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Li is a high-level official at the US Department of Labor. His appointment to the Geneva-based ILO was announced in April.

As of June 1, the US had accumulated arrears of more than $220 million in ILO membership contributions for the past two years, according to data on the agency's website.

Washington must also pay its 2026 dues, amounting to nearly $100 million.

The decision to drop Li "is without prejudice to the possibility of the United States settling its arrears and thereby regaining its position as the largest contributor in assessed contributions.

"The ILO remains in constructive dialogue with the US government on this matter," the statement said.

The ILO had been without a deputy chief since last September, when Celeste Drake – also a US national – left.

The ILO's deputy director post is usually held by an American, but the agency's staff union raised questions about following that tradition at a time when Washington – traditionally the agency's biggest donor – had failed to pay its dues.