U.S. exporters: Yield on Mexico truck dispute

U.S. exporters: Yield on Mexico truck dispute    U.S. exporters expressed disappointment in the Obama administration's failure to circumvent the Mexican government on Monday from imposing a second round of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as a result of the ongoing cross-border trucking dispute.
   'Ignoring the trucking issue and failing to abide by our trade commitments has real economic costs,' warned Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.
   'Given the state of the U.S. economy and the current trade deficit, the United States cannot afford to continue standing still on this issue while Mexico imposes new harmful tariffs, causing a shift away from U.S. goods,' he said.

Reinsch

   The Cross-Border Trucking Pilot Program was started by the U.S. Transportation Department in September 2007 as a way to begin implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement trucking provision, which was supposed to take effect in December 1995. The pilot allowed a limited number of Mexican trucks to move freight into the United States beyond a 25-mile commercial zone. Yet many U.S. lawmakers and the Teamsters have resisted the move, citing safety concerns with Mexican trucks.
   In February 2001, a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled that excluding Mexican trucks violated U.S. obligations under the trade deal. The ruling gave Mexico the right to retaliate against U.S. products, which it did in March 2009 by placing tariffs in the range of 10 percent to 45 percent on 89 products valued at more than $2.4 billion.
   On Monday, Mexico said it intended to add several products, while reducing or eliminating duties on several others, for a total of 99 products. Mexican officials have not provided a list of those products, but expect to do so later this week. U.S. pork is expected to be one product added to the list.
   'We are extremely disappointed that our top volume export market has taken this action, but we're more disappointed that the United States is not living up to its trade obligations,' said National Pork Producers Council President Sam Carney in a statement.
   'Our trading partners need assurance that the United States will live up to its trade obligations,' Carney said.
   U.S. pork producers urge the Obama administration to work with Congress to quickly resolve the trucking issue with Mexico, which last year bought $762 million of U.S. pork.

LaHood

   'Mexico is an important U.S. export market and President Obama understands the economic pain that these tariffs cause for American farmers, companies and workers,' said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, in a statement.
   'Following President Obama's direction, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and I have worked with other agencies and stakeholders in Congress seeking to resolve this issue in a way that addresses safety concerns and upholds our trade obligations. We are committed to continuing to work with Members of Congress and our counterparts in Mexico to resolve the dispute and end these duties,' Kirk said. ' Chris Gillis