Posted on 11/27/2005 4:42:00 PM PST by cope85
New Kansas City customs port may expedite trade with Mexico Region hopes to capitalize on growing cross-border trade By Garance Burke, Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Shipping American cars and electronics to Mexico may become much cheaper and faster early next year when the first Mexican customs facility in the United States is expected to open in the heart of the Midwest. It may be nearly 1,000 miles to the border from Kansas City, but this industrial hub will soon start building an inland port that would whisk thousands of trucks through export inspections and shoot them back out onto the North American Free Trade Agreement corridor, where they can roll through the border without further delays.
The $3 million facility, which would be the first foreign customs office inside the United States, will likely be approved by the U.S. and Mexican governments by year's end and is scheduled to open next May, said Chris Gutierrez, president of Kansas City SmartPort Inc., a nonprofit organization promoting the project.
Planners say manufacturing industries in the upper Midwest and Canada would be the first to benefit from the new customs operation, which they believe could expand to handle cargo from across the country.
Mexican government officials confirmed the two countries had agreed on the overall proposal, though both nations said finer points of the agreement were still being negotiated by customs officials — including security concerns and the legal standing of Mexican customs officials working in the United States.
After a visit to Kansas City in May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner said the pilot proposal was "bold and imaginative" and could transform Kansas City into a "major new trade link" that would fit well with new border security initiatives to pre-approve cargo.
"We've always had the railroad and the river and the airlines and the roads, but this will open up tremendous new business opportunities for Kansas City," said Kansas City councilwoman Bonnie Sue Cooper, who said she proposed the idea to the Mexican Finance Minister Francisco Gil Diaz last year.
In the 1940s, Kansas City — at the intersection of two major interstate highways along the Missouri River — was one of the country's largest rail distribution centers.
Now plans are to fill a gravel lot that once held cattle with a big-box building that will process long lines of big rigs packed with goods for export to Mexico.
Providing the containers stay electronically sealed once they're inspected, the trucks will be free to cross the border and avoid further inspections, resulting in efficiencies and cost savings.
"Kansas City is the geographical
heart of the United States and of the entire NAFTA region," said Everardo Suarez, Mexican consul general in Kansas City. Once the agreement is completed, Kansas City would essentially function like a Mexican port.
The transition to the global economy comes just in time: since the city's stockyards and airline industry declined, it has been struggling to rebuild itself as a leader in global logistics.
"I think this project would go a long way to transform trucking," said Chaz Jones, a research analyst with Morgan Keegan, a Memphis investment bank. "Truckers typically get paid per mile. The more time cargo spends moving on the road, the more revenue it generates for a carrier."
In recent months, delays at the hurricane-damaged port of New Orleans and bottlenecks at Long Beach and Los Angeles have caused companies to look for alternative trade routes. Industry analysts said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is one of several companies moving freight through Mexico as an alternative to using West Coast ports; Wal-Mart spokespeople would not confirm the move.
Because so much trade between NAFTA partners is carried by truck, Midwestern cities with good transportation infrastructure stand to capture some of that trade flow.
In August 2005, trucks carried 64 percent of imports from Canada and Mexico and 80 percent of U.S. exports to those countries, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
San Antonio has also invested significant efforts to develop a competing inland port. But Kansas City officials hope the customs facility will give the city a leg up, especially once the project's second phase, which will allow rail cars to clear Mexican customs as well, is completed.
Kansas City Southern owns two Mexican train lines which means they can send freight from the Midwest directly to the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, where car manufacturer Mazda Motor Corp. has begun shipping vehicles from Japan to Kansas City.
"There might not be enough volume to open a rail facility today, but we certainly expect that will increase in the next few years," said Warren Erdman, a vice president at Kansas City Southern. "We have great interest in the proposal."
US blinks in softwood standoff 11/24/2005 WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Commerce Department announced it would comply with a NAFTA panel's order to cut a 16 percent duty on Canadian softwood lumber imports -- for now. Even though the Bush Administration still strongly disagrees with the repeated NAFTA rulings in Canada's favor, it will comply, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said yesterday. "We have serious concerns about the panel's decision. However, consistent with our NAFTA obligations, we have complied with the panel's instructions," Gutierrez said in a press release.
The ruling effectively means that the Americans would reduce duties from about 16 percent to less than one per cent. Separate antidumping tariffs averaging about 4 percent will not be affected.
While protectionists oppose the move to lift softwood tariffs, US consumer groups applauded the move However, the government says it's asking for clarification of the ruling -- meaning the duties on Canadian imports can remain in place for another 45 days. Officials also added they have the right to appeal the ruling. The two counties have been at odds over the softwood issue for years. Canada says the duties are in violation of the free trade agreement. The U.S. has argued that Canadian softwood is subsidized because it's cut on Crown timberland, while U.S. softwood is sawed privately, placing it at a competitive disadvantage.
Canada accounts for about one-third of the U.S. supply of softwood, used mainly in homebuilding.
As expected, U.S. protectionist industry groups decried the move. However, consumer commended the Department of Commerce for "finally doing the honorable and right thing in recalculating lumber duties as directed."
American Consumers for Affordable Homes (ACAH), representing more than 95 percent of lumber consumption in the U.S., said such duties only punish consumers. "These duties on Canadian softwood lumber increase the cost of a new home by at least $1,000, pricing more than 300,000 families out of mortgage eligibility and home ownership," said Susan Petniunas, spokesperson for ACAH.
Industries that depend on lumber as an input and that oppose import restrictions include manufacturers of value-added wood products, lumber dealers, manufactured and on-site home builders, remodeling contractors, mattress and box springs manufacturers, and individuals, says ACAH.
come on in anyone
What exactly is it that we export to Mexico? (besides jobs)
Right on schedule with merging our countries by 2010 as per the Council on Foreign Relations agenda.
we only have one vote in nafta,Mexico and Canada LOVE it
One big happy global village ping.
you got it
thanks to the N.G.O
What are NGOs?Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become quite prominent in the field of international development in recent decades. But the term NGO encompasses a vast category of groups and organizations.
The World Bank, for example, defines NGOs as “private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development.” A World Bank Key Document, Working With NGOs, adds, “In wider usage, the term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organization which is independent from government. NGOs are typically value-based organizations which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable donations and voluntary service. Although the NGO sector has become increasingly professionalized over the last two decades, principles of altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics.”
Different sources refer to these groups with different names, using NGOs, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs), charities, non-profits charities/charitable organizations, third sector organizations and so on.
These groups can encompass a wide variety of groups, ranging from corporate-funded think tanks, to community groups, grassroot activist groups, development and research organizations, advocacy groups, operational, emergency/humanitarian relief focused, and so on. While there may be distinctions in specific situations, this section deals with a high level look at these issues, and so these terms may be used interchangeably, and sometimes using NGOs as the umbrella term.
Since the 1970s, it has been noted how there are more non-governmental organizations than ever before trying to fill in the gaps that governments either will not, or cannot.
The above-mentioned World Bank document points out that “Since the mid-1970s, the NGO sector in both developed and developing countries has experienced exponential growth.... It is now estimated that over 15 percent of total overseas development aid is channeled through NGOs.” That is, roughly $8 billion dollars. Recognizing that statistics are notoriously incomplete, the World Bank adds that there are an estimated 6,000 to 30,000 national NGOs in developing countries alone, while the number of community-based organizations in the developing world number in the hundreds of thousands.
Such organizations must operate as a non-profit group. While in that respect, NGOs are meant to be politically independent, in reality it is a difficult task, because they must receive funding from their government, from other institutions, businesses and/or from private sources. All or some of these can have direct or indirect political weight on decisions and actions that NGOs make
I shouldn't be, but am in shock to see this in writing. I've heard about it of course...
We can't even get a permanent checkpoint built in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector to filter who is coming to our country.
thanks to Bush and his best pal, Vicente Fox.
As a citizen in Kansas City, Missouri I'm fighting against this proposed pilot program.
Considering the historic nature of this arrangement, however, one would expect that there would be some documentation, including documented permission from the federal government, which traces the genesis of locating a Mexican customs facility within the sovereign border of the United States.
Surprisingly, Kansas City SmartPort president Chris Guiterrez and Councilwoman Bonnie Sue Cooper claim that there are no documents. And shockingly, the Kansas City, Missouri City Council obligated the funds for this pilot project based on nothing more substantial than it being a good idea.
Moreover, there are major concerns that have not been adressed.
We may be able to glean some information regarding the various issues associated with cross-border inspection services from the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade. The Center’s findings are contained in a study, “Expanding Trade through Safe and Secure Borders,” conducted by The University of Arizona’s Office of Economic Development.
The Center suggests that, “If cross-border inspection services are envisioned as an eventual element of the CyberPort concept, it would be advisable to conduct an in-depth study of possible civil liability and insurance issues, which could very likely become a concern for certain U.S. agencies.” Moreover, the Center also noted that the concept of an inland port would require “enhanced security.”
The Center’s April 2004 newsletter, “The Inter-American Trade Report” Carlos Guzman-Leuffer explains that, “One of the most important obstacles that would face any proposal of the Cyberport project is the sovereignty issue in the NAFTA countries...”
Our City Council and economic development officials seem unconcerned about the state of Missouri's sovereignty.
Why do we even bother fighting this? It's clear our destiny has been determined by the ruling class.
I'm going to fight it. The U.S. citizens in Kansas City, Missouri should not have to wait until the ink is dry on the paper to have a voice in this arrangement.
Good!! Keep us posted?
Chris Guiterrez was anything but transparent when I spoke to him about this 8 weeks ago. When he asked me what my concerns were I stated that I was unconfortable with the fact that the facility will be the sovereign territory of Mexico. He stated that that was untrue. Ha! I quoted back to him his own statements in Logistics Today that confirmed that the facility will be Mexican territory. He was silent. What really irritates me is that Kansas City Smartport is not subject to Missouri's Sunshine law. How convenient. If I want documents I have to file a FOIA request to multiple federal agencies.
Were any GM workers in Mexico or Canada part of the recent layoff announcement? I worked on a GM parts distribution system in the late 90's to make the GM parts distribution seamless between US/Canada/Mexico.... guess it was a success!
I also spoke with the AP reporter about this issue. She said that the people she interviewed were also concerned with the issues I brought up. I asked her why she didn't put those concerns in her article. No answer.
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