US, Mexico sign cross-border trucking deal

By Kevin Bogardus - 07/06/11 05:11 PM ET

The U.S. and Mexican governments signed an agreement Wednesday to resolve a long-running dispute over cross-border trucking.

In Mexico City, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood signed the agreement with Dionisio Arturo Pérez-Jácome Friscione, Mexico’s secretary of Communication and Transportation. The deal will lift heavy tariffs that Mexico placed on U.S. goods and will allow Mexican truckers to drive on U.S. roads.

“The agreements signed today are a win for roadway safety and they are a win for trade. By opening the door to long-haul trucking between the United States and Mexico, America’s third largest trading partner, we will create jobs and opportunity for our people and support economic development in both nations,” LaHood said in a statement.

The deal will have Mexico lift tariffs off more than $2 billion in U.S. goods. In addition, Mexico will suspend 50 percent of these tariffs in the next 10 days. In exchange, U.S. roads are eventually fully opened to Mexican trucks.

The remaining tariffs will end five days after the first Mexican trucking company receives its U.S. operating license. In turn, Mexican trucks will have to comply with federal safety standards and will be fitted with electronic monitoring systems.

A pilot program that allowed Mexican truck drivers into the country was ended by Congress in 2009. That led to Mexico instituting the tariffs in retaliation.

Business groups have long wanted the cross-border trucking dispute to be resolved.

“If we’re going to boost U.S. exports and create jobs here at home, we must hold on to our major export markets, such as Mexico, where American companies are already doing well. Today’s news will help American businesses to do just that,” said Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a statement. “We urge Congress to support this agreement and let this dispute be brought to an end.”

There have been critics of opening up access to U.S. roads for Mexican trucks. The Teamsters has opposed cross-border trucking between Mexico and the United States and the union’s general president, Jim Hoffa, blasted the agreement in a statement Wednesday.

“It adds insult to injury to force U.S. taxpayers to pay for monitoring equipment on Mexican trucks so Mexican carriers can take away their jobs,” Hoffa said. “The [Transportation Department] shows more loyalty to the Mexican people than it does to Americans.”