Farmers seek end to U.S.-Mexico truck dispute

Farmers seek end to U.S.-Mexico truck dispute    Washington state farmers and growers told U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last Wednesday that retaliatory Mexican tariffs are having a devastating impact on the state's agriculture industry.
   They expressed their views at a meeting arranged and hosted in Seattle by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., according to a news release from her office.

LaHood

   In spring 2009, Mexico imposed tariffs of 10 percent to 45 percent on 90 U.S. exports ranging from pears to shampoo after the U.S. Congress pulled funding for a cross-border pilot trucking program designed to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement. Under the program, several dozen Mexican motor carriers that met U.S. highway safety standards were permitted to make deliveries beyond the border zone in the interior of the country.
   Congress terminated the program citing safety concerns with Mexican trucks and drivers.
   Mexico last month announced a second round of tariffs on U.S. goods as a result of the ongoing cross-border trucking dispute. The government said it would add several products, while reducing or eliminating duties on several others, for a total of 99 products.
   The Obama administration has promised for 18 months to restructure the program to allay congressional concerns and open the border to Mexican trucks, but there has been little apparent progress to date.
   Many lawmakers from states with businesses that trade with Mexico and industry groups have repeatedly urged the administration to quickly resolve the dispute. Industry groups estimate that more than $2.2 billion in export sales to Mexico were lost during the first year of the tariff regime.

Murray

   Murray was able in late July to add an amendment to a transportation spending plan that calls on the administration to propose a plan that would end retaliatory tariffs on Washington state agricultural products. The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and awaits full Senate action.
   LaHood was in Seattle to celebrate the groundbreaking on a $164 million freeway project, which is partially supported by a $30 million TIGER (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery) grant awarded this year by the DOT. ' Eric Kulisch