Mexico May Rotate Tariffs in Ongoing Border Trucking Dispute

Mexico may rotate tariffs on U.S. goods until the Unites States resolves a dispute over Mexican Trucks’ access to U.S. roads, the Associated Press reported.

Individual goods could be added or removed from the list of 99 items subject to tariffs announced this week, AP said, citing Mexican officials.

Mexico’s Economy Secretary Bruno Ferrari said Thursday that Mexico would not hesitate to take such steps, AP reported.

Current tariffs range from 5% to 15% on products such as cheese, fruits, juices, wine, toilet paper and some pork products, AP said.

The American Frozen Food Institute said this week that the unresolved issue “will further discourage the sale of U.S. goods to Mexico and will result in more lost revenue for American exporters and even deeper damage to the struggling American economy.”

Mexican trucks were required to have access to U.S. roads under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Bush administration set a pilot program under the auspices of the Department of Transportation that allowed some Mexican trucks access to U.S. roads.

But the Obama administration last year put the brakes on that program, and it has been stalled since, with Congress getting involved, citing safety and labor issues.

Teamsters union president James Hoffa told NPR in an interview that letting Mexican trucks on U.S. highways “that do not meet our standards is to endanger the American driving public. That’s why we're against it.”