El Paso Business Leaders Happy About Cross-Border Trucking Agreement, Unions Not So Happy

Seeking to repair damaged relations, President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared Thursday a breakthrough in efforts to end a long-standing dispute over cross-border trucking.

Eager to show signs of a productive partnership, Obama and Calderon agreed to a phased-in plan that would authorize both Mexican and U.S. long-haul carriers to engage in cross-border operations provided the Mexican trucks meet U.S. safety standards.

Both countries were given this authority under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, but the U.S. has refused to allow Mexican trucks access amid concerns over their ability to meet stringent U.S. safety and environmental standards.

Mexico has placed higher tariffs on dozens of U.S. products in response to the unresolved dispute. Under the proposed agreement, Mexico will agree to lift those tariffs in phases, with all tariffs lifted once the first Mexican carrier receives authorization to travel on U.S. roads.

Negotiating teams, which are still working out details of the plan, are expected to send an agreement to Congress this spring.

News of a pending agreement won Obama praise from some in the business community, who have argued that the delay in opening cross-border trucking and the resulting tariffs have cost Americans jobs.

Richard Dayoub, president of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, said the plan “will help produce jobs and will improve, overall, our economy at a time when we need it the most.”

But unions representing American truckers are less than excited.

The Wall Street Journal reports the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has long said that Mexican trucks are potentially unsafe.

Maria Reza, owner of Border Trucking Compliance, disputes that. The company helps carriers from both sides of the border with their paperwork when it comes to cross-border trucking.

Reza told ABC-7 Mexican trucks must carry the same insurance liability and adhere to the same safety and environmental standards as their American counterparts.

“Some of (the Mexican companies) have better trucks than the U.S.” she said.