AAEI seeks resolution of U.S.-Mexico trade rift

AAEI seeks resolution of U.S.-Mexico trade rift President Barack Obama should initiative high-level talks with Mexican officials to resolve a trade dispute that could cost the U.S. economy $2.4 billion, the American Association of Exporters and Importers said Wednesday.
   Mexico announced this week that it intends to impose higher duties on 90 U.S. products, mostly agricultural produce, in response to a provision in the omnibus 2009 appropriations bill recently signed by Obama that prohibits the Department of Transportation from funding a cross-border pilot program established during the Bush administration, which allows Mexico-based trucks to make deliveries in the United States. Opponents of the program, including the Teamsters union, claimed that the Mexican trucks aren't subject to the same safety standards as their U.S. counterparts.
   The pilot program was designed to bring the United States into compliance with the North American Free Trade Agreement after almost two decades of congressional roadblocks.
   'NAFTA has generally worked well and we are genuinely concerned about measures that impede the free flow of trade,' said Marianne Rowden, AAEI's interim executive director, in a statement. 'Blocking compliant Mexican carriers from the U.S. border impedes the free flow of trade. Retaliatory duties imposed on U.S. exporters hurt U.S. workers in this tough economic climate.'
   On Tuesday, the World Bank issued a report showing that since the financial crisis erupted in September, 47 countries have implemented trade restrictions or subsidy programs to protect domestic industries. It expressed concern that the trend could escalate and lead to tit-for-tat actions that hurt growth in developed and developing countries.