Posted on 12/21/2007 6:12:50 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Retaliation is expected by the Mexican government in response to a decision this week by the U.S. Congress to stop the cross-border trucking pilot program for long-haul Mexican transport companies.A provision included in the all-inclusive omnibus spending bill passed Wednesday cuts funding for the pilot program that began in September. It was an attempt to test a stipulation that is required by the North American Free Trade Agreement that has not yet been implemented.
The year-long program planned to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to travel throughout the United States instead of being limited to the 20- to 25-mile border commercial zones. The same number of U.S. trucking companies are allowed, for the first time, to make deliveries throughout Mexico.
During a phone conference Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he believes that with appropriate safety measures in place to support cross-border trucking, the pilot program was a move toward improving trade and, in turn, the Mexican economy.
"I think we've done ourselves some harm," Cornyn said. "If it's a treaty obligation with the United States, it's the law."
Cornyn said in recent conversations with other officials he has heard that retaliation from Mexico is expected because the United States failed to hold up its end of the bargain.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said this now starts a "pull and tug between the two countries."
"I think if the Mexicans are not allowed to come into the U.S. then I can see definitely the Mexicans are going to do the same to Americans," Cuellar said.
Because of NAFTA, Cuellar said it is a program that must eventually establish permanently.
"A treaty will take precedent to some of the things that Congress might want to do with this," Cuellar said.
Highway safety is the top reason cited by pilot program opponents. When the first Mexican trucks began crossing the border, Teamsters protested in Laredo and elsewhere.
Leslie Miller, spokeswoman for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said the organization is "ecstatic" about Congress' decision.
"Personally, I hear from a lot of Teamster truck drivers who view the drivers from Mexico as very unsafe," Miller said. "We don't think the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration has the ability right now to make sure that safety is enforced."
The safety administration said when it launched the program all Mexican trucking companies were required to pass rigorous tests, including drug and alcohol tests for drivers. The drivers are also held to the same hours of service standards that U.S. drivers must follow and each truck is inspected when it crosses the border, FMCSA said.
A study completed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which Miller said has joined with the Teamsters, conducted a study from September 2006 to September 2007, the year preceding the pilot program. The study identified that Mexican trucks had 1,700 safety violations, Miller said.
"We'd like to see NAFTA repealed," Miller said. "Just because we have a so-called agreement doesn't mean that Mexican companies can come to our country and break our law.
"It (NAFTA) has nothing to do with Mexican truck drivers," she added. "In our view, NAFTA isn't about trade. NAFTA's about cheap labor."
According to the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, 55 Mexican trucks from 10 different companies have received clearance to operate in the United States. Four U.S. companies with a total of 41 trucks are cleared to travel into Mexico.
There are dozens more on the list, said Melissa DeLaney, spokeswoman for the FMCSA, but the Mexican companies are first strictly evaluated and must activate insurance through a U.S. carrier.
DeLaney said the department is evaluating the situation for cross-border trucking.
"We're trying to figure out what those next steps will be," DeLaney said.
Cuellar said there may be the potential to "shift dollars around" to continue the program.
"The administration could find another way of doing this," Cuellar said.
If not, cross-border trucking for Mexican companies is at a standstill for a year, he said.
"This is a tactic that they use," Cuellar said. "If the Congress is not happy with something and they can't change the law … they say, ‘OK, the law's there but we're not going to fund it.'"
While Cuellar and Cornyn voted in favor of the omnibus bill, they agreed that with all-inclusive spending legislation, not everything in there is favorable to a single legislator.
"The omnibus had some things in it that I found objectionable," Cornyn said. "But I'm not sure that can ever be the standard by which all appropriations are determined because invariably there's going to be something in an appropriation bill … that is a must-pass bit of legislation."
(Ashley Richards may be reached at 728-2538 or by e-mail at ashley@lmtonline.com)
Yeah my mother is here for the holiday and we’ve been talking about this. She was telling me about driving through the the Bronx with guys hanging off her truck because she made the mistake of stopping at a red light.
Did they pass that “Temp” service business tax up there yet?
GD what a shape that hussie has made of that state. Sad part is, since construction has collapsed here, I had to take a job running tree harvestor back up in the UP and am only back here in AZ once every two months for a week or so.
Az is a nice place to live as far as the weather goes...at least NW AZ is. But a lot of these people are about the laziest and most ignorant and dumb people I ever saw. Maybe its just the Kingman area..I dunno. They are CHEAP also and will lie at a drop of a hat.
Thanx...cleared that up. I was OTR for 11 years, doing LTL now so it’s kinda hard to keep up
Good. Since they arrest and deport all Americans who illegally enter Mexico then they won’t mind when we return the favor, right?
had to have been going to Hunts Point...if so, time to lock and load
She’s been driving for almost 20 years so she can opt out of a lot of the bad runs if she doesn’t want to make them. She won’t go to Quebec either.
Inspect all US bound trucks and ban all that do not meet US standards. Mexico needs to send stuff north more than we need to send stuff south.
Build the double fence. Mexico needs to send people north more than we need to send people south.
What’s ya going to do about that President Bush?
Calderon hasn’t told him yet.
Actually the DOT was prohibited from inspecting the Mexican trucks, some private firm, probably a bud of Jorge's, was suppose to inspect them.
Incorrect. JB Hunt has a Hunt De Mexico division but does not allow its American drivers to cross the border.
The arbitration panel, in 2001, said that the US can set standards and exclude any Mexican truck that doesn't meet those standards.
But, the US can't exclude all Mexican trucks only because they are Mexican trucks. Nor can the US set higher standards for Mexican trucks than are set for US trucks.
Probably a mexican pulling their tailers.
That is true, and a lot of them don't like Chicago either, low bridges everywhere.
John Cornyn has lost all credibility. It is he and Hutchison who conspired with the RATs to gut the border fence funding.
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