Mexico’s President Defends Trucking

Mexican authorities, including President Vicente Fox Quesada, insisted that their trucks are safe enough to run on U.S. highways, but details of when and how the Bush administration will open the border have yet to be worked out.

Fox hosted President Bush at his San Cristobal, Mexico, ranch Feb. 16 and discussed trucking, along with several other cross-border issues. No early decisions were expected to emerge from the meeting. As the two leaders met, Teamsters protested in El Paso, Texas, against Bush’s intention to admit Mexican trucks to this country.

“We are ready to go to U.S., meet the standards and the regulations,” Fox said a day earlier during an online interview with the Washington Post, insisting that the Mexican truck fleet is safe and modern.

An arbitration panel recently ruled that the United States violates its obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement by keeping Mexican trucks out of the U.S. President Clinton kept the access closed off, citing concerns raised by the Teamsters Union and others about the safety of Mexican trucks.

For the full story, see the Feb. 19 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.