Since the passage of NAFTA, Texas has had the highest volume of truck traffic in the whole nation. In the first three years of NAFTA, truck mileage grew by 16 percent and passenger car miles have increased by 12 percent, according to a Texas State report. As the NAFTA continues to expand trade, reports show that “80 percent of US-Mexican trade passes through Texas primarily in truck carrying goods to other parts of the US or Canada” (Texas truck volume, 1998: D13).
With Mexico’s tariff list update released on Wednesday. Meats, vegetables, fruits, chewing gum, chocolate, household items and other U.S. made products have been added to the list of sanctioned imports by the Mexican government. The revised list of punitive tariffs, stemming from the long-unresolved U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking dispute, now contains 99 U.S.-made products, up from 89 on the initial list when Mexico started its trade sanctions in March 2009.
Cross-border trucking has been held up by the U.S. government for the past 15 years because of objections from U.S. truck-driver organizations, including unions. Kyle Burns, president and CEO of the Free Trade Alliance San Antonio, noted that the revised list broadens the number of agricultural products and “is likely to have a greater impact on Texas.”
“Mexico continues to allow U.S. carriers into Mexico. The U.S. is not living up to our end of the bargain and in the process is hurting American exporters and families,” Burns said. “The U.S. government should not be surprised by Mexico’s frustration. Mexico’s decision to slap these tariffs on more U.S. goods is not only legal it’s understandable. The time is now to resolve this issue and give U.S. exporters a break.”
The revised list of U.S. products with Mexican tariffs adds:
• Pork products: 5%
• Cheeses: 25%
• Sweet corn, frozen: 15%
• Pistachios: 20%
• Oranges/grapefruits: 20%
• Apples: 20%
• Oats/grains: 10%
• Chewing gum: 20%
• Chocolate: 20%
• Ketchup: 20%
• Polishes/adhesives: 10-15%
• Rubber gloves/floor coverings: 10-15%
• Thermos containers: 15%
• Trench diggers: 15%
• Gas masks: 5%
The list drops:
• Shelled peanuts: 20%
• Dental floss: 15%
• Commercial catalogs: 20%
• Yarn: 15%
• Carpets: 20%
• Jewelry: 20%
• Venetian blind fittings: 20%
• Locks: 20%
• Metal mountings/fittings: 20%
• Telephone sets: 20%
• Battery cell waste and scraps: 20%
• Various metal furniture: 15%
Source: Free Trade Alliance San Antonio
The full and complete article by David Hendricks can be found at:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7159326.html