BTW, concerning your tag-line, rather than advocating "fair" trade, whatever that is, I suggest advocating "substantially balanced" trade. What's killing us is the trade imbalance, the $800 billion trade deficit.
You are aware of the fact that we had a trade surplus during the Great Depression right?
Fair means an even playing field. It means they must follow the same rules as we do. It means that their manufacturing must endure about the same level of taxation as ours, or our Country must lower it’s taxes. It means that we should not be forced to compete with industries in Countries that subsidize, in any way, shape, or form, to give them a competitive advantage.
Specifically, with regards to trucking, which I know extremely well; it means their equipment must be on par, and meet the same regulations as ours, including EPA. It means that I must be able to verify their credentials, including their safety, credit, insurance, and driver histories. It means that they must posses the same medical certificates, judged by the same medical standards as we are, AND, the records of these must be available to our LEO agencies. 90% of that, at this time, is not in place.
Yet, in our “free trade” border zones, these guys come and go as they please. Many, even though they are not legal residents, rent apartments on the US side, and make use of our infrastructure, as if it were their own. They may, or may not, have insurance, a valid medical certificate, a valid CDL, or even a truck that has been inspected in the past year or two by a qualified, and honest, inspector.
If I were to cross the freedom bridge to the Mexican side, I’d be pulled over in a matter of blocks, and I’d better have a pocket full of dollars, cause they won’t take pesos from a gevacho :)