LaHood Says New Border Plan is ‘Very Close’ to Completion
This story appears in the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a Senate subcommittee the Obama administration soon will unveil its plan to relaunch a cross-border trucking program along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Our intention . . . is to restart this program,” LaHood said May 6 during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s panel on transportation and housing. “It is a part of [the North America Free Trade Agreement]. It needs to be restarted.”
When asked by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the subcommittee, when the administration would unveil its plan, LaHood said it was “very close.”
“It is closer than soon,” he said.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon is scheduled to meet with President Obama in Washington on May 19.
Murray said Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, has said Calderon plans to raise the issue during the visit.
“We are hoping that with the president coming later this month, that we can have a resolution of this,” Murray said.
She said it was important to resolve the dispute, particularly since Mexico has imposed more than $2.4 billion in tariffs on U.S. exports in retaliation for the United States having closed the border to Mexican trucks in 2009.
“The effects of that Mexican tariff have been absolutely devastating to the farmers and families in my home state now,” Murray said. “The tariffs are really undermining our farmers’ competitiveness. They are killing jobs and devastating communities.”
As an example, Murray said that a 20% tax on frozen, processed potatoes resulted in ConAgra’s closing its plant in Prosser, Wash., and eliminating hundreds of jobs.
LaHood acknowledged that the tariffs have hurt U.S. businesses and would be rescinded if the United States resumes a cross-border trucking program. The United States and Mexico last month set up a working group to study the cross-border trucking program (click here for previous story).
“We believe that if it is restarted, the tariffs will be lifted,” LaHood said, adding that the tariffs have “had a devastating effect, not only on the state of Washington but on many other states across the country.”
The United States was supposed to open its borders to Mexican trucks following the signing of NAFTA in 1994, but a moratorium was imposed that stopped it from happening.
In 2001, Mexico sought — and won — the right to impose sanctions on the United States if the border was not opened. Later that year, President Bush proposed lifting that moratorium.
But it wasn’t until 2007 that the administration launched a limited pilot test allowing some Mexican trucks to enter the United States beyond the commercial zones along the border.
Congress repeatedly attempted to shut the border, finally succeeding in March 2009 and prompting Mexico to impose the tariffs.
LaHood said that when the new plan is announced, the administration will brief Congress and get feedback.
Murray, meanwhile, said when she recently met with Ambassador Sarukhan, she discussed how many jobs are at stake.
“I told him that I feel very strongly that our Washington state farmers and our families should not be punished for a diplomatic dispute they had nothing to do with,” Murray said.
