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DOT seeks end to Mexican standoff
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It All Adds Up To VALUE It All Adds Up To VALUE
In November 1942, sensing the tide of
World War II was turning in favor of the
Allies, British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill uttered the famous phrase,
“Now this is not the end. It is not even
the beginning of the end. But it is, per-
haps, the end of the beginning.”
The same could apply—on a less-
grandiose scale—to the latest develop-
ment in the U.S.-Mexico cross-border
trucking dispute. After a two-year fight
that has resulted in millions of dollars in
lost revenues, missed market opportuni-
ties, and increasing acrimony between
the two nations, the ice may have finally
begun to thaw.
The melting process began Jan. 6 when
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
unveiled what was termed a “concept
document” that would eventually allow
qualified Mexican truckers to operate in
U.S. commerce beyond a 25-mile commercial zone along the southern border.
The Department of Transportation
(DOT) document was framed as nothing more than a “starting point” for
negotiations with Mexico, aimed at
developing a cross-border access program all stakeholders could live with.
Within two weeks, DOT and other
administration officials were in Mexico
City meeting with their Mexican counterparts who LaHood said were “very
anxious” to review the proposal.
If and when an agreement is reached,
DOT will make the details public and
give interested parties 30 days to file
comments.
ONGOING DISPUTE
The document’s release comes nearly
two years after President Barack Obama
signed an omnibus spending bill that
ended funding for a 2007 pilot program
that gave Mexican truckers and drivers
limited access to U.S. markets. Critics
argued that the administration’s move
was another in a series of government
measures that have violated the North
American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as NAFTA. Under
NAFTA, qualified Mexican truckers were
to have been granted full access to U.S.
highways no later than January 2000.
In retaliation, the Mexican government slapped tariffs on 89 U.S. import
products worth about $2.4 billion a year.
Mexico imposed the tariffs using a rotating “carousel” mechanism that let it
remove some products from the list
while adding others. Following the DOT
document’s release, Mexico said it would
terminate the “carousel” mechanism and
refrain from adding products to the list.
However, it won’t lift the tariffs until a
final deal is reached.
LaHood said his proposal is aimed at
remaining faithful to the intent of
NAFTA while balancing the concerns of
all parties. That includes the large num-
accolades
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