U.S. and Mexico ink deal to open cross-border trucking [1]
Media are reporting today that the United States and Mexico have signed an agreement to lift a ban on Mexican trucks crossing the border into the United States to complete freight deliveries, a topic about which we have wailed and rent garments here [2] and here [2] and here [3]. No one is proposing to throw open the border to the folksy jalopies that crowd Mexico’s secondary highways – those of windshield pom-pom and “Dios protege mi camino” fame. The Mexican trucks will be subject to strict conditions regarding safety compliance and restriction of activities, including electronic monitoring devices and instruction in English and U.S. road rules. Some Mexican trucking companies, however, have already expressed interest in registering for the program. Under the agreement, the Mexican government will immediately lift half of its punitive import tariffs on a designated set of U.S. products, and will lift the other half once the first Mexican freight carrier becomes certified under the program. The news should come as substantial relief to producers of pork products, wine, appliances and other key products affected by the duties, in place since 2009. In the announcement of the agreement, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak estimated that the trucking dispute has cost U.S. businesses over US$2 billion. Agricultural producers have been particularly hard hit, with apple, pear and grape exports to Mexico slapped with a 20% duty, cheeses at 25% and various nuts and juices in the 15% to 20% range. This whole dispute was a bunch of baloney from square one and penalized U.S. exporters severely while President Obama was simultaneously calling for a national campaign to boost exports. Good riddance, we say.