LaHood Says U.S. Seeking to Revive Mexican Trucking Plan
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants to revive the cross-border trucking program with Mexico that lets some carriers from that country deliver goods into the United States beyond a set border zone, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
LaHood met Tuesday with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who has been a critic of the program, Bloomberg reported.
Dorgan worked successfully to cut off funding for the program because of what he said was a failure to meet U.S. safety standards. (Click here for previous Premium Content story.)
The program is required by the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but was implemented as a test program by the Bush administration as a pilot project after the Clinton administration scuttled it early in its administration.
LaHood is in charge of developing a new plan after Mexico last week applied $2.4 billion in tariffs on at least 90 U.S. products in retaliation for the U.S. suspending the pilot program, Bloomberg reported.
Trade between the two countries totaled $368 billion in 2008, making Mexico the third-largest U.S. trading partner after Canada and China, according to Commerce Department data, Bloomberg said.
The program has been opposed by advocacy groups like Public Citizen and by the Teamsters union, who also have cited concerns about the safety of Mexican trucks on U.S. highways.
