When President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress used
the Fiscal Year 2009 "omnibus" spending bill to deliver on a
campaign promise to Big labor and kill a pilot program that
permitted a handful of trucks from Mexico access to U.S. highways,
they set in motion a head-on collision with one of America's
closest trading partners, the ramifications of which will cause
tremendous damage to the U.S. economy.
Notwithstanding fierce opposition by the Teamsters and other
U.S. organized labor groups, in 2007 the U.S. Department of
Transportation (USDOT) approved a NAFTA-consistent "Cross Border
Demonstration Project" that gave "Mexican carriers with 107 trucks"
full access to the U.S. road network. Until then, USDOT regulations
issued during the Clinton Administration to appease the Teamsters
had required all Mexican trucks to unload their cargoes at
warehouses close to the border, where they were re-loaded into U.S.
trucks for onward shipment throughout the country. Mexico obtained
a NAFTA ruling against those regulations in 2001 but withheld the
imposition of retaliatory tariffs because of the pilot program.
$400 MILLION COST
According to USDOT, the superfluous warehousing and
loading/unloading added $400 million per year to the price of
Mexican imports, which has been passed on to American consumers.
Under the USDOT pilot program, an equal number of American-owned
trucks are also permitted to operate freely in Mexico, thereby
creating U.S. jobs and increasing the profits of both U.S.
companies shipping products to Mexico and the American trucking
companies hauling them there.
The Bush Administration extended the program twice, resisting
efforts of pro-Teamster Members of Congress led by Senator Byron
Dorgan (D-ND), a senior member of the powerful Senate
Appropriations Committee, who inserted language into the Fiscal
Year 2008 omnibus spending bill that would have killed the pilot
project. Although protectionist critics have alleged safety
problems with Mexican trucks, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration -- the relevant oversight agency in the Department
of Transportation -- recently issued a report showing there had been
no accidents involving trucks participating in the program. The
Mexican trucks are constantly monitored while in the U.S. and must
meet rigorous USDOT safety requirements. In fact, "Mexican trucks
in the program have a better safety record than their American
counterparts."
Hidden among thousands of earmarks, Senator Dorgan again
inserted a provision into the recently passed FY 2009 omnibus
spending bill (Div. I, Title I, Section 136) that de-funded and
killed the pilot project. President Obama, who had campaigned
against earmarks and claimed to oppose protectionist measures such
as this one, signed the bill behind closed doors on March 11.
PROTECTIONIST
On March 18, the government of Mexico retaliated by slapping
tariffs ranging from 10 to 45 percent on 89 U.S. agricultural and
industrial products -- including "toilet paper, Christmas trees,
fruit juices, pet food, shampoo, sunflower seeds, soy sauce,
pencils, beer and deodorant" exported to Mexico from 40 states.
Those exports bring in over $2.4 billion in annual sales for U.S.
companies. Mexican Economy Minister Gerardo Ruiz said, "We consider
this action [canceling the pilot truck program] by the United
States to be mistaken, protectionist and clearly in violation of
[NAFTA]."
In Oregon alone, the tariffs are expected to cost companies
"tens of millions of dollars." For example, "Bill Brewer, executive
director of the Oregon Potato Commission, told The
Oregonian newspaper that the United States could lose its
entire $80 million in annual french-fry exports to Mexico because
competitors in Canada won't have to pay $16 million in tariffs."
Ironically, one Member of Congress from Oregon (Representative
Peter DeFazio) is one of the strongest opponents of the pilot truck
program.
RESTORE PROGRAM
The U.S. and Mexican economies are deeply intertwined, and both
face serious problems. Increasing efficiency in trade between the
two countries will benefit both sides and strengthen Mexican
President Felipe Calderon's pro-market, democratic policies.
Improving the safety of both the U.S. and Mexican long-haul truck
fleet will also contribute to improved national security in both
countries.
Then-candidate Obama pledged to "upgrade" and "retool" NAFTA,
but his approval of the Congressional action to kill the pilot
truck program was a direct attack on NAFTA.
In mid-April, en route to the Summit of the Americas in
Trinidad, President Obama will make his first visit to
Mexico and meet with President Calderon. In preparation for that
meeting, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and others in his
Administration should take immediate steps to restore funding to
the pilot truck program and then expand it and make it
permanent.
James M.
Roberts is Research Fellow for Economic Freedom and Growth
in the Center for International Trade and Economics (CITE) at The
Heritage Foundation (heritage.org).