BUSH ADMINISTRATION OPENS
ALL AMERICAN ROADS TO
MEXICAN TRUCKS
Until September 6, 2007, the law said that Mexican-owned trucks entering the US were required to unload their wares at US CUSTOMS PORT OF ENTRY warehouses within 20 miles of the US/Mexico border. That was as far as the Clinton Administration would allow the Mexican trucks to come into the US, even after the signing of NAFTA. Then after inspection and US CUSTOMS approval, US-owned trucks picked-up the inspected goods and delivered them to their US destinations. (Photo --- Mexican trucks enter the US at Mexico/US border crossing).
Starting today, that’s over ... Officially. The Bush Administration, utilizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, now allow Mexican trucks to cross the US/Mexico border (any of the crossings along the border, from small towns with little in the way of inspectors, to larger cities) and have complete, unfettered access to US highways and cities. No more restrictions of any kind. The Bush Administration interpreting this part of NAFTA in this way is wildly out of line with common sense, national security, and all manner of potential safety and public health problems.
Michael Chertoff, incumbent Secretary of Homeland Security, was in front of a Congressional Committee today, speaking against these changes in the trucking laws. (Photo --- Truck undergoing inspection at a Mexico checkpoint).
According to REUTERS: "The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
late on Friday (9/6/07) denied an emergency petition sought by the Teamsters union, the Sierra Club and consumer group Public Citizen to halt the start of a one-year pilot program that was approved by Congress after years of legal and political wrangling.The Transportation Department welcomed the decision and said in a statement that allowing more direct shipments from Mexico will benefit U.S. consumers.
The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement approved broader access for ground shipments from both countries but the Clinton administration never complied with the trucking provision. A special tribunal ordered the Bush administration to do so in 2001.
"This is the wrong decision for working men and women," Jim Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, said in a statement after the court ruling. "We believe this program clearly breaks the law." The Teamsters represents truckers that would be affected by the change.
The emergency stay was sought on grounds the administration's pilot program had not satisfied the U.S. Congress' requirements on safety and other issues. But the appeals court ruled otherwise." (end of Reuters story quote)
Now, the "test period" which starts today runs for just one year and the Feds are calling it a “trial” time. But you know how the government is … The first Federal Income Tax was supposed to be “temporary”, too, to be in effect just until after World War I was paid for … Once these things get started, they are near-impossible to stop.
US Congressman Peter DeFazio of Oregon (Democrat), said at a news conference today in washington, DC: "The powers behind this bill won't be satisfied until every truck driver in America is a non-American, working for less than the American minimum wage".
I had our local State Senator, John Benoit, on my radio show as a guest just a few months ago. Before his election, he ran the California Highway Patrol in this area, and he stated flatly that there is no way the trucks coming from Mexico could possibly be inspected unless they were literally falling apart at some checkpoint or border control point.
He has interesting insight into all the potential problems with these rules changes because both California State Highway 86 and Interstate 10, which Benoit oversaw in his CHP position, are major thoroughfares which bring goods from Mexico and Central and South America into the USA.Benoit told us that the only Mexican trucks which will stand any chance at all of actually
being inspected (or of having their loads inspected) are those which are clearly and obviously "falling apart". If their re-capped tires are coming unglued, if their brakes are falling off in chunks from the wheels, if the lights are not working or any other number of safety and quality problems we probably can't even imagine, then, maybe, the truck will be ordered to the side of the road and inspected at some length. But clearly, the CHP is already overtaxed when it comes to all the duties they are supposed to perform in this part of the nation (Southeast California) and adding the inspection of untold numbers of Mexican-owned trucks might precipitate some sort of disaster.
And often, those goods range from cocaine to marijuana to methamphetamine. Recently, a car from Mexico stopped on Highway 86 by law enforcement was found to have six pounds of Fentanyl, a powerful pain-killer used mostly in surgeries and given to cancer patients suffering unrelenting pain from that disease. (Photo --- Man in favor of new NAFTA rules drives truck in Texas --- And where is his seat belt?).
In the meantime, we can only imagine how ‘safe’ all these trucks are as far as their road-going abilities … that famous world-class Mexican quality, second only to (maybe) China … and their operators’ driving skills … and the solid financial strength of their insurance companies … etc.
Update 9-7-07 -- US trucks receive reciprocal rights to Mexican roadways in this deal. CNN reported today that, daily, 2,000 Mexican trucks cross into the US at the San Diego/Otay Mesa border, and 3,000 more cross into the US at the Laredo, TX US/Mexico border, for a total of 5,000 Mexican trucks entering the US every day.
Update -9-12-07 -- Congress on Tuesday moved to block the Bush administration from allowing Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States, setting up a collision with the White House and possibly straining relations with Mexico. Senators from both parties, citing safety concerns, attached a measure to a transportation spending bill to block funding for the cross-border trucking program. The House earlier this year approved a similar measure, virtually ensuring it will be in the final bill. Bush has threatened to veto the bill over its price tag, and the White House issued a statement Tuesday saying it "strongly opposes" any effort to delay the program.
The action comes just days after U.S. transportation officials gave a green light to the first of as many as 100 Mexican trucking companies that would be allowed to operate throughout the United States in a one-year demonstration period. Until now, Mexican trucks have been restricted to a narrow zone north of the U.S.-Mexico border where they transfer their cargo to American big rigs.
On Monday, the first Mexican truck delivered a load of steel to North Carolina.
The action came despite Bush administration assurances that Mexican trucks and their drivers would undergo rigorous safety checks, including a "39-point, front-to-back inspection" of trucks and drug testing for drivers.
The Mexican government has allowed the first of as many as 100 U.S. trucking companies to operate south of the border. The measure drew the support of an unusual coalition, pitting some Republicans against their usual business allies, underscoring the intensity of the opposition.
After NAFTA's approval, the Clinton administration refused to let Mexican freight-haulers operate throughout the United States, citing safety and environmental concerns. A NAFTA arbitration panel ruled in 2001 that the United States was violating the agreement.
In 2004, the Supreme Court set aside a lower court ruling that had required U.S. officials to study the environmental impact before allowing older Mexican trucks into the country, ruling that the president had the power to enforce NAFTA.
Opponents highlighted a fiery collision that occurred Sunday in Mexico between two trucks, one of which carried several tons of highly combustible chemicals, that killed more than two dozen people. But supporters noted that Mexican trucks are prohibited from transporting hazardous materials in the United States.
Six explosions believed to be the result of sabotage ripped apart natural gas pipelines for Mexico's state oil monopoly early Monday, the company said. There were no reported injuries. Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, issued a statement saying it believed the explosions, which forced the evacuation of 12,000 people, were deliberate.
It said the six blasts at about 2 a.m. (3 a.m. EDT, 0700 GMT)
caused four fires. At least five pipelines were affected. A small, left-wing guerrilla group claimed to have attacked a major Pemex gas pipeline in July, forcing at least a dozen major companies, including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co. and The Hershey Co., to suspend or scale back operations.
The July explosions affected sections of a major pipeline extending from central Mexico City to Guadalajara in western Mexico.
No, we don't want cheaper crap from WAL-MART. Americans' desire for that stuff is what's causing all the quality and safety problems with goods from China, which we've pointed out before on these pages. As far as Mexican trucks and truckers undergoing stricter testing than those from the US or Canada, please send us the facts on that so we can post them here for everyone to see. I also noted you live in New Hampshire, which makes your understanding of border problems with Mexico a bit suspect or simply naive. Liberals (like me) have some basic problems with the concept of "shutting off" commerce ... But in this case, I do think the stakes are damn high. People who live in the southwest (well, some of us) understand that if the American dollars were suddenly shut-off to Mexico, and if American jobs were to suddenly disappear due to a truly 'closed' border, the violent revolutions which have been going on for years in Mexico's southern states would move to the US/Mexico border states in just a year or so. Mexico's southern states treat their borders with Central American states a heck of a lot tougher than they treat the US/Mexico border! But here's the bottom line, or one of them: The corrupt and crooked Mexican government is eventually going to have to deal with the problems they have created for their own people, one way or another. Finally, this attempt by the Bush Administration to further lower the wages of a solidly middle-class part of America, union truckers, will not hold up in the long run.
Posted by: Steve Parker | September 08, 2007 at 11:35 PM
Mexican trucks operating in the US must pass a STRICTER inspection than US or Canadian rigs, and to suggest there's something wrong with the operator's skills is ignorant, at best; racist, at worst.
I notice you don't mention that this also gives American rigs access to Mexico. You want to be able to buy cheap crap at Wal-Mart? It requires cheap labor.
Posted by: proscriptus | September 07, 2007 at 06:09 AM