However, you could have read this, from the article:
"Opponents said the U.S. is applying tougher standards to Mexican trucks than to Canadian trucks and failing to live up to its NAFTA obligations."
and
"Under NAFTA, Mexico can seek retaliation against the U.S. for failing to adhere to the treaty's requirements, including retaining tariffs on goods that the treaty eliminates, said Sidney Weintraub, a professor emeritus at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin."
The ban can't go anywhere without making us pay for breaking the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed by Clinton in 1993. The US has already been found in violation of the treaty with stalling in the past. If there's a way out of the treaty, that's what we need to do. Breaking treaies unilaterally and arbitrarily is not the way to go.
And, yes, as of this month, Mexico is reciprocating by allowing US trucks to travel in that country
After some research, I found more information. The searches at Thomas.gov expire after a few minutes, but here's Senator Cornyn's comments about the Treaty, from the Congressional Record, September 11, 2007, available at [Page: S11390]:
As my colleagues know, as I have just recounted, the United States is under a treaty obligation through NAFTA to open our interior to long-haul trucks from Canada and Mexico, just as they are required to open their highways to American truckers. I believe we should live up to our treaty obligations, and I say that even if I don't necessarily agree with them because they are, as a matter of fact, the law of the land, and whether I agree with it or the Senator from North Dakota agrees with it, once the matter is adopted as a treaty obligation of the United States, it is litigated not only by the NAFTA arbitration panel but by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, and I think his opinion or mine about whether it is something we prefer to happen becomes pretty much a moot point if we are to be a nation of laws and respect the judgments of the courts, even if we don't happen to like it.
and
Many of the safety provisions included in the program the Department of Transportation has adopted, in fact, go well beyond what Congress has required to date. I am here today to have a real debate about safety and what we in Congress can do to take concrete steps to ensure the highest standards of truck safety.
The solution to me is simple, and it is embodied in my amendment, which we will have an opportunity to vote on. My amendment, for the first time, will make it U.S. law that every truck participating in the demonstration program must be inspected every 3 months to the same standard as U.S. trucks. Every driver entering this country under the program will have to verify compliance with safety requirements, and they would have to do so every time they entered the United States.
The Department of Transportation's inspector general will be required to certify soon after the program is fully implemented that the Department has, in fact, inspected every truck and verified every driver. This is the Department of Transportation of the United States Government; no other government. They must verify every truck inspection and verify every driver. If the inspector general of the Department of Transportation fails to certify such, then funding for this program will be automatically suspended.
Under this approach, for the first time, we will statutorily enshrine in American law the principle that we inspect and certify every Mexican truck that enters the United States through this program.
It is also worth noting that this will be the first time in the history of the program that there will be an actual congressional requirement for the inspector general to certify the program. Previously, Congress has only required the inspector general to review the program.
Finally, my amendment will require the administration to provide 60 days' notice to Congress should they wish to extend or otherwise continue the demonstration project. Such notice will give this body ample time to consider the merits of the program as implemented and what modifications, if any, we want to make.
By moving forward on a conditional basis with a threat of a full shutdown if the inspector general finds the program is noncompliant, we will further incentivize the Department of Transportation to strenuously enforce the safety inspection and verification requirements under this new law.
It is also worth noting that the Department has already taken a ``go slow'' approach--I am glad they have--planning to allow only up to 25 carriers per month into the program in the first 4 months. Even at the height of the program, the Department expects a maximum of 500 to 600 trucks to participate, compared to the millions of domestic and Canadian trucks that currently operate on our roads.
Here's the summary of the amendment proposed by Senator Cornyn:
00332 11-Sep H.R. 3074 On the Amendment S.Amdt. 2842 Rejected Cornyn Amdt. No. 2842; To ensure that every motor carrier entering the United States through the cross-border motor carrier demonstration program is inspected and meets all applicable safety standards established for United States commercial motor vehicles.
So, the Dems get to point to their votes and nothing happens - definitely not a legal requirement for regular checks and a shut down if the trucks fail.
“Senator Cornyn stands for the right and for the sovereignty of the US. The sound bite (drive by) media can’t be trusted to tell the truth. “
Why does he want to spend give our money to Mexico with his “North American Investment Fund” idea?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51036
“As my colleagues know, as I have just recounted, the United States is under a treaty obligation through NAFTA to open our interior to long-haul trucks from Canada and Mexico, just as they are required to open their highways to American truckers.”
We are under no treaty obligation, as NAFTA was never ratified as a treaty.
>>Every driver entering this country under the program will have to verify compliance with safety requirements, and they would have to do so every time they entered the United States.<<
BS. Mexico has no real driver records. If they create a database or driver records, it will be a work of fiction. Ask any Mexican what happens when the police stop them for a traffic violation. They pay a bribe. The police have no desire to report any traffic violation.
It’s not a treaty, and has no legal teeth whatsoever. You’re bloviating.
We need to keep those trucks out, period.