U.S., Mexico close to resolution on truck access dispute

President Obama announced Thursday that he and Mexican President Felipe Calderon have found a solution to the dispute over Mexican truck access that has caused Mexico to slap millions of dollars in tariffs on U.S. exports.

Obama said he will now work with Congress get full approval of the proposal.

Under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico was granted the right to have its trucks access U.S. roads.  A 2007 pilot project to implement this was suspended after Congress defunded it.

In retaliation, Mexico imposed a wide variety of tariffs on U.S. exports in March 2009. A large coalition of U.S. business interests has been pressing for a solution ever since, but opening up U.S. roads is strongly opposed by the Teamsters union and its allies in Congress.

Calderon said Mexico will be phasing out the tariffs slapped on $2 billion of exports, as the United States comes into compliance with NAFTA.

Under the proposed plan, the two countries will establish a reciprocal, phased-in pilot program, a U.S. trade official said.

Mexican trucks will get access to U.S. roads unde this program, but only if trucks and drivers meet U.S. safety standards, the official said.

The official cautioned that the details are still being worked out.

"This is a very positive development, but it is not a done deal.  The negotiating teams for the United States and Mexico continue to work on the details. We expect to have a proposed agreement available for Congressional briefings and public notice and comment within several weeks," the official said.
 
According to the plan, Mexico will suspend half of the retaliatory tariffs at the time of a final agreement and the remaining 50 percent when the first Mexican carrier gets authorized to access the U.S. 

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore), the leading critic of allowing Mexican trucks in, vowed Thursday to scrutinize the new pilot program when details are released.

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