Mexico’s government shot back at a U.S. trade decision by raising the tariffs on about 90 imports.President Barack Obama’s signing of a $410 billion government spending bill last week helped relax travel restrictions to Cuba. But the newly signed law also put the brakes on a pilot program permitting widespread access of Mexican freight trucks into the U.S.
The cross-border program has been mired in controversy ever since the debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s. Several special interests groups supported (Mexico, commerce groups) and opposed (environmentalists, labor unions) the plan. The topic heated up in 2007 when the Bush administration relaxed the rules to permit 500 Mexican trucks greater access beyond a very narrow zone just above the border.
Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan called the measure “protectionism” and threatened to take retaliatory action. Today the Mexican government did just that:
Mexico says it will increase tariffs on about 90 U.S. products in retaliation for last week's decision to cancel a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to transport goods within the United States.Despite the limits placed over Mexican trucks, Canadian tractor-trailers have unrestricted access into the U.S.
The Mexican Economy Department says the U.S. decision violates a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement that was supposed to have opened cross-border trucking years ago.
Department officials told a news conference Monday that the measure will affect about $2.4 billion in trade: 90 agricultural and industrial products from 40 U.S. states.
Image- Truthdig
Online Sources- csmonitor.com, Los Angeles Times, AP, MSNBC, The Latin Americanist
5 comments:
situational ethics allows people to change their minds about contracts and even trade agreements .....
but I can see why this would sting and worry Mexico's government and economists especially when this is added on top of a significant decrease in wages earned by illegal immigrants being sent back to Mexico.
The vast majority of americans never wanted Nafta
in the first place!!!
Now we are starting to get into the old depression mindset. This is how to take a bad recession into a depression - start a trade war. Hey, it worked last time - it should work again.
Mexican trucks are proven safer than american ones. Study was done, result are in. Teamsters are being disingenuous. Congress is simply paying them off for their support.
Trade with Mexico worked just fine before Nafta.
Let each country take care of it's own transportation
just like before. Even an accident attorney will tell you that.
Happy new year.
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Bathmate
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