Trucking Agreement Between USA and Mexico Finally Signed

Accord allows trucks of each country to travel to and from the other country.

The cross-border trucking dispute had been going on for almost 15 years. After signing the NAFTA agreement, the United States never implemented the provision allowing Mexican trucks to travel on US highways, prompting Mexico to impose retaliatory tariffs on a range of US exports, from pork to consumer care products.

The agreement reached earlier this month has been greeted warmly by American trade, farm and business organizations, but could still face stiff opposition from US trucking unions and representatives who want Congress to oppose the bill.

What some in the Louisiana trucking industry fear is the unfair competition of Mexican 18-wheelers due to lower wages, and the absence of strict and numerous regulations imposed on US motor carriers.

Under the agreement, however, the US will reinstate a pilot program for Mexican truck certification first introduced under the Bush administration, and defunded by Congress in 2009.

Mexico, on the other hand, will drop half of the tariffs on about 100 products, and remove the rest when the trucks actually start rolling across the border.

All Mexican trucks operating in the US will have to comply with US truck safety standards, and compliance will be monitored by devices installed on the trucks.

Mexican trucks are already allowed to travel in the US within 25 miles of the border. Under the new agreement, Mexican trucks will be able to deliver goods into the US and from US delivery points to Mexico, but are barred from hauling goods between US destinations.

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