Mexico to end US trucking dispute in October
The Mexican government, in reference to the trucking dispute between the US and Mexico, will get rid of the retaliatory duties in October which have been placed on some US farm (incl. pork) and industrial goods, said a report by Reuters.
“The plan is for the US government to authorise the first permit in the trucking program for cross-border freight at the start of October,” the Economy Ministry said.
However, the report said that if the US does not go through with the trucking program at the beginning of October as stated, then as a result Mexico will not get rid of remaining duties.
The dispute between the US and Mexico comes over a trucking provision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The provision was set to become effective in December 1995, but the United States failed to abide by it.
Mexico trucks violated US obligations
In a NPPC report in July this year it stated that in February 2001, a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled that excluding Mexican trucks violated US obligations under the trade deal. The ruling gave Mexico the right to retaliate, but the United States delayed the retaliation by implementing in September 2007 a pilot program that allowed a limited number of Mexican trucks into America. When in March 2009 Congress failed to renew the pilot program, Mexico imposed tariffs on 89 US products. It added products, including pork, in August 2010 after the Obama administration failed to present a proposal for resolving the trucking dispute.
In a NPPC report in July this year it stated that in February 2001, a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled that excluding Mexican trucks violated US obligations under the trade deal. The ruling gave Mexico the right to retaliate, but the United States delayed the retaliation by implementing in September 2007 a pilot program that allowed a limited number of Mexican trucks into America. When in March 2009 Congress failed to renew the pilot program, Mexico imposed tariffs on 89 US products. It added products, including pork, in August 2010 after the Obama administration failed to present a proposal for resolving the trucking dispute.
Mexico is the second largest market for the US pork industry, which shipped $986 million of pork south of the border in 2010. Since 1993 – the year before NAFTA was implemented – US pork exports to Mexico have increased by 780 percent.
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