[CTC_TRADE] Sander Levin | New U.S. House chairman has strong ideas on trade

[Andrew Gussert]

Please alert your congressional delegation to this Dear Colleague letter
and congressional sign-on opportunity, which the Teamsters support.

In Solid,

Mike Dolan, IBT


Remove the Mexican Tariffs by Renegotiating NAFTA's Cross Border Truck
Program


                                                            March 9,
2010

 

Dear Colleague:

 You may recall the overwhelming Congressional rejection of the Mexican
truck cross-border demonstration program. Congress - with 411 votes -
rejected this program in 2007 and again in 2008 and 2009.  Sadly, under
the guise of NAFTA, the Mexican government responded by slapping $2.4
billion in tariffs on American exports to Mexico. I do not believe
Congress will reverse course under threat of these excessive, arbitrary,
and political tariffs.

 However, we cannot sit idle and let Mexico undercut our economy. Please
join me by signing the below letter calling for the U.S. to renegotiate
Article 1202 of NAFTA, to eliminate the requirement to open our borders
to Mexican trucks.  I believe this is the easiest way to eliminate these
tariffs.  Please contact Auke Mahar-Piersma to sign this letter at
5-6416.

 

Sincerely,



Peter DeFazio

Member of Congress

 

March, XX 2010

Dear Secretary LaHood and Ambassador Kirk:

Last week you received a letter from 56 Members of Congress stressing
the need to resolve the retaliatory Mexican tariffs stemming from
Congress's overwhelming rejection of the cross-border demonstration
program.  We wholeheartedly agree that the U.S. must find a way to
eliminate these excessive, arbitrary, and political tariffs.

However, we caution the Administration that we firmly believe it would
be difficult, if not impossible, to receive Congressional support for a
cross-border trucking program that allows tens of thousands of Mexican
trucks traveling across the lower 48 states.  NAFTA does not bind the
U.S. to accept subpar safety standards, and Congress is not going to
waive our rights under NAFTA. We are entitled to require comparable or
better standards for safety from Mexican trucking companies. Their
standards are not even close to equivalent to U.S safety requirements.
The addition of tens of thousands of substandard Mexican trucks to our
roads would jeopardize the safety of our traveling public.

Given these constraints, we offer you a solution that has a greater
likelihood of success. We believe the U.S. should renegotiate Article
1202 of NAFTA, National Treatment of Cross-Border Trade in Services, to
eliminate the requirement to open our borders to Mexican trucks.  This
would remedy all the truck safety, homeland security, and unemployment
issues associated with this long standing trade dispute.  A successful
renegotiation would also eliminate retaliatory tariffs, which are
negatively impacting our export markets.

The current system works well. US trucking firms have testified they
have no desire to enter Mexico and become a prized target in the ongoing
drug war in Mexico. They have raised legitimate concerns about
hijackings, extortion and theft.  They are confident the existing
current 20 mile commercial border zone is superior to the proposed full
cross border program.

As the following timeline demonstrates, Congress has repeatedly and
overwhelmingly rejected the cross-border program because it failed to
adequately protect Americans from unsafe Mexican trucking standards.  In
a Congress that rarely agrees on anything, this issue has unified
Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the Hill.

In May of 2007, the House voted overwhelmingly, 411-3, to pass H.R.
1773, the Safe American Roads Act of 2007.  This legislation would have
imposed additional restrictions on the cross-border demonstration
program and ensured that DOT establish a process to analyze the impact
of allowing Mexican trucks on our nation's roadways before the border is
permanently opened  Then-Representative LaHood voted for this bill.
Provisions were also included in the 

The FY 2007 Iraq War Supplemental spending bill (P.L. 110-28) included
strict measures to ensure that the demonstration program adhered to
safety and security guidelines and required that its progress be
assessed by an independent panel.  

In 2008, both the House and Senate both passed amendments to the FY 2008
Transportation spending bill to prohibit the use of federal funds to
implement the Cross Border Truck Safety Inspection Program.  Both
then-Senator Obama and Representative LaHood supported these amendments.
Ultimately, the prohibition was included in the FY 2008 Omnibus
Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161).  

Finally Congress terminated the cross-border demonstration program in
the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8).  

Congress has repeatedly objected to the demonstration program because
Mexico has not met U.S. safety standards. Mexican access to U.S roadways
is dependent on carriers proving they meet U.S. safety standards
regarding hours of service, driver training, licensing, drug testing and
vehicle safety.  However, repeated studies by the U.S. Department of
Transportation's (DOT) own Inspector General (IG) show that neither
Mexico's carrier truck fleet nor its driver licensing and safety rules
meet the requirements of U.S. law. 

The cross-border demonstration program was a poor test of the true level
of safety that will be seen among Mexico domiciled carriers if the
border is opened.  The DOT IG's February, 2009 report found that the low
rate of participation in long haul operations among Mexican carriers
"was not adequate to provide statistically valid findings that will
allow FMCSA to project safety performance of the pool of applicants for
long haul operating authority."  Further, the IG found that
"participants were not representative of Mexican carriers likely to
conduct long-haul operations" in terms of certain business
characteristics and in terms of safety history.  Specifically, vehicle
and driver out-of-service rates for pilot program participants were
lower, by a statistically significant margin, than other Mexican
carriers that currently operate in the United States in the commercial
zone or under grandfather rights.  In other words, the IG substantiated
the fact that DOT cherry picked the safest carriers to participate in
the pilot.

Removing the cross border trucking provision from NAFTA will also
prevent more job losses at a time when we can least afford them.  Should
the border be fully opened to Mexican trucks, the low wages of Mexican
drivers will drive U.S trucking companies out of business. This
continues a disturbing trend of American job losses through outsourcing.
The difference is that we are allowing foreign workers making foreign
wages to enter our nation and unfairly compete for American jobs.
Opening our border to Mexican trucks is a lose-lose for U.S. workers and
the traveling public.

It is clear the easiest path to eliminating the retaliatory Mexican
tariffs is to renegotiate Article 1202.  Thank you for your attention to
our concerns and we look forward to a prompt reply.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

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