Re: Mexican truckers and NAFTA

[TheFarseer]

Does anyone know the current situation on this? Are Mexican truckers given full access to our highways or are they limited to the "commercial zone" around border towns etc.? I'm trying to do a paper on NAFTA partially about this and I've found alot about the history up til 2008 but can't find the current situation. Thanks for any help!

[lunatica]

1. I found this from 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aQbKUhGAWAEg

GE, 3M Freight Costs May Rise After U.S. Bars Mexican Trucks
By Thomas Black and Carlos Manuel Rodriguez - March 19, 2009 00:01 EDT

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co., 3M Co., Caterpillar Inc. and other U.S. companies operating in Mexico will pay higher shipping costs after the U.S. scrapped a trucking program designed to eliminate daylong delays at the border.

The U.S. last week canceled a pilot project begun in September 2007 that allowed Mexican trucks to transport goods past a 25-mile commercial zone along the border. Mexico responded this week by placing tariffs on $2.4 billion of U.S. goods exported to the country annually.

(snip)
The U.S. and Mexico agreed under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement to streamline trucking operations at the border by allowing drivers of one country to drop off cargo in the other nation and pick up a load to return home. The U.S. has ignored Mexico’s demands to fully implement the rules, saying Mexican trucks and drivers aren’t safe enough for U.S. roads.

The suspended program allowed 26 Mexican trucking companies to operate on U.S. highways. It was renewed for two more years in August before being canceled by a provision in the $410 billion spending bill passed by Congress on March 11.

more...

[lunatica]

2. This is from yesterday

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201002091716dowjonesdjonline000508&title=us-trade-representative-says-mexican-trucks-may-return-to-us

US Trade Representative Says Mexican Trucks May Return To US


By Laurence Iliff, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- The Obama administration has taken the first step toward renewing a pilot program that allows Mexican truckers to operate within the U.S., as stipulated in the North American Free Trade Agreement, but still must work with Congress on fashioning a new program, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Tuesday.

"President Obama has made it plain that we would like to see this issue over the ability of Mexican trucks to move freely throughout the U.S. resolved as soon and as thoughtfully as possible," Kirk said at a news conference with Mexican Economy Minister Gerardo Ruiz.

In the 2009 appropriations bill, the U.S. Congress blocked funding for the pilot program, but the Obama administration persuaded legislators to consider a reworked program.

more...

[hayu_lol]

3. Because the Repugs and Blue Dogs will vote to allow...

unsafe trucks and drivers on our roads and highways, a companion bill is needed to mandate that all Mexican trucks be checked at the border the way our own trucks are checked at major way stations...and that Mexican drivers take commercial driving courses in this country to obtain, at the least, an international commercial driving license based on our laws/rules/requirements.