LaHood Says Mexico Plan to Reach Congress Soon

This story appears in the June 1 print edition of Transport Topics.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to have a proposal for opening the U.S.-Mexico border to longhaul trucking ready when Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, adding that he thought the plan could be implemented as soon as this summer.

LaHood also said the Mexican government’s imposition of tariffs in retaliation for the United States ending a pilot cross-border trucking plan was “very effective,” in pushing the United States to seek a solution to the nearly three-month-old trade dispute.

“We’ve put together a very good proposal that’s being vetted at the White House,” LaHood said during a speech at the National Press Club here May 21.

“I hope to get back up to Capitol Hill after the recess and talk with these members of Congress and tell them what we’ve done,” he said.

LaHood said he had made several visits to Capitol Hill “to find out what it would take to get their support for a Mexican truck agreement.”

“Almost everything that we’ve included in the proposal has to do with safety. These were the major concerns raised by members of Congress,” LaHood said.

Congress shut down the Bush-era pilot program in March in appropriations legislation for the current fiscal year. Since then, the Obama administration has said it would work to resume some manner of cross-border trucking with Mexico.

LaHood said he thought “we will have the chance throughout the early part of the summer to get this resolved and have it reinstated in a way that reflects what the Congress wanted, which revolves almost exclusively around safety.”

Jim Berard, spokesman for Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told Transport Topics May 27 that LaHood is “going to have to do a good sell job if he’s going to make this happen.”

“Speaking for Chairman Oberstar, the bottom line is and always has been safety,” Berard said. “He has to be convinced not just some trucks, but every truck that comes in from Mexico . . . can operate safely on U.S. highways.”

Berard added that Oberstar was “concerned” that Mexico lacked the capability to enforce safety regulations at a level commensurate with U.S. standards.

“The onus is on the administration to convince Congress that whatever they’re proposing will bring with it that guarantee that there is a good faith reason to believe that every truck coming in from Mexico is going to operate safely on our highways,” he said.

LaHood said there were “good metrics” for measuring things such as driver hours of service, licensing and the mechanical fitness of Mexican trucks.

After Congress closed the pilot program in March, Mexico placed about $2.3 billion in tariffs on nearly 90 U.S. products, a move LaHood said was pushing U.S. officials toward a solution.

“The one thing that the Mexicans did that has been very effective is they put tariffs on goods and products and it’s had a huge impact on producers and suppliers around the country,” he said.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association — which opposes opening the border — was disappointed LaHood was providing “an endorsement for future related actions,” rather than questioning the scope or legality of the Mexican levies, said Rod Nofziger, director of government affairs for  the driver group.

Nofziger also criticized LaHood for not addressing the economic effects on U.S. truckers of opening the border.

He said LaHood “made no mention of the impact that a cross-border trucking program would have on American truckers who are already struggling with a soft freight market and very low freight rates.”