Posted on 09/11/2007 5:09:04 PM PDT by ruination
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Tuesday to ban Mexican trucks from U.S. roadways, rekindling a more than decade-old trade dispute with Mexico.
By a 74-24 vote, the Senate approved a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., prohibiting the Transportation Department from spending money on a North American Free Trade Agreement pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways.
The proposal is part of a $106 billion transportation and housing spending bill that the Senate hopes to vote on later this week. The House approved a similar provision to Dorgan's in July as part of its version of the transportation spending bill.
Supporters of Dorgan's amendment argued the trucks are not yet proven safe. 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.
Until last week, Mexican trucks were restricted to driving within a commercial border zone that stretched about 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexican boundary, 75 miles in Arizona. One truck has traveled deep into the U.S. interior as part of the pilot program.
Blocking the trucks would help Democrats curry favor with organized labor, an important ally for the 2008 presidential elections.
"Why the urgency? Why not stand up for the (truck) standards that we've created and developed in this country?" Dorgan asked.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who drafted a Republican alternative to Dorgan's amendment, said the attempt to block the trucks appeared to be about limiting competition and may amount to discrimination against Mexico.
"I would never allow an unsafe truck on our highways, particularly Texas highways," he said.
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 trucking program allows up to 100 Mexican carriers to send their trucks on U.S. roadways for delivery and pickup of cargo. None can carry hazardous material or haul cargo between U.S. points.
So far, the Department of Transportation has granted a single Mexican carrier, Transportes Olympic, access to U.S. roads after a more than decade-long dispute over the NAFTA provision opening up the roadways.
One of the carrier's trucks crossed the border in Laredo, Texas last week and delivered its cargo in North Carolina on Monday and was expected to return to Mexico late this week after a stop in Decatur, Ala.
The transportation bill is S. 1789.
Roger that!
“Concur. See my U.S. Customs & Border Protection/NAFTA Section on my FR Profile page. I’m 100% in Duncan Hunter’s corner in this fight and 100% against the Bush Administration”
Attorney’s in Florida must be superior to the rest :-)
I got ill just reading my own post :-)
You are aware of the fact that we had a trade surplus during the Great Depression right?
>>We need to ensure reasonable safety regulations...<<
Which is impossible, because the Mexican police does not keep records of bribes (almost 100% of “traffic fines”) accepted, and even if it did, Mexico has no system for tracking driver safety records.
Apparently safety is not important to the “free traders” who want to ram this down our throats.
You do not demonstrate much knowledge of labor markets for university faculty. There are plenty of foreign professors in US universities. Universities can hire foreign professors. There are many foreign students who take faculty positions in US universities.
I am strongly in favor of driving down the cost of university education. I am surprised that no competitor has done it yet, especially in business and engineering. There seem to be some significant barriers to driving down education cost: accreditation, public perception, and large startup capital.
Tenure has been eroded somewhat but it remains strong. A number of legislatures have passed laws requiring post tenure review. However, post tenure review only removes the very poorest faculty. Tenure does not mean that your salary will grow. Unproductive faculty often are denied raises, given poor teaching assignments, and given high administrative duties. I knew one faculty member who had not received a raise in 20 years. I am not a defender of tenure or academic freedom. The taxpayer should have more power to ensure faculty productivity.
You are wrong. See post #201. NAFTA is not a treaty. The Seanate vote is not symbolic.
“Apparently safety is not important to the “free traders” who want to ram this down our throats.”
Nope!
An unfortunate reality is that we’re in right in the middle of the Presidential Primaries and the terms free and fair with regard to trade are basically open for discussion.
We will stomp the dems on Foreign Policy and the WOT in ‘08. Their only choice is to look for domestic issue weaknesses. Why in the world they are being given any ammunition to use against us is nuts.
He’s right on the most important things, even if I disagree with him on this. WOT, RKBA, taxes...
Soon I will depart TX for WA where my senators will be
Patty Maurray and Maria Cantwell.
Thought you were a business professor? Do you think all items are shipped in full truck load lots. Why do you think trucking companies have freight terminals. I'll give you an example: a friend of mine has a dozen trucks and for years he hauled general motors freight. The companies in Mexico load a full trailer of their product. It was shipped to the boarder and mixed with other general motors freight then it was delivered to Memphis Tennessee, there it was unloaded and reloaded with different amounts going to different plants. The function of the terminal was to get the most load gong to the correct plant for a single drop. If the single load out of Mexico had gone to ten different drops it would have taken days extra and cost the shipper more for each drop. No way to run a just in time manufacturing business.
The same thing happens for sea containers, they come into a port of entry they are over weight and fully packed with the same item going to many different customers They are generally short hauled to a freight forwarder that unloads and reloads the items, are they are shipped by train where they still wind up with a freight forwarder. In short most businesses do not want 44,000 pounds of widgets at one time. Lesson over!
Yeah, unions are a lot like pus.
I have mixed feelings about tenure. I do believe it should not be handed out to those who have not demonstrated academic excellence. I wonder how many conservative college professors could get tenure these days?
Org.Whodat replys >>> Agreed, but I do think it is time we the tax payers started demanding that we import third world professors and let them bid on jobs, the one that will work for the lowest wages get the position. No more tenure, the bidding is open word wide each year. So what if the applicant cannot speak English, it's educational of the student to learn to understand him. :)
LOL, exactly. What's fair for one is fair for all. I'm not a protectionist but I am so sick of hearing how free trade reduces consumer product costs, blah blah....... while we give away our Country and don't look at the total cost of stupid things like this Mexican truckers issues.
Good tagline :-)
I am not in favor of unsafe Mexican trucks on our highways. It is possible to have reasonable standards that are enforced. Low confidence in Mexican records and procedures will make enforcement more expensive. This cost should be passed to the truck operators and companies.
Do you have any thoughts on global warming?
Why does China keep popping up in my mind? (lol)
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