Agricultural News
Mexican Truck Deal Cheered by Farm Bureau and Pork Producers
Fri, 04 Mar 2011 3:51:51 CST
The President of the American Farm Bureau, Bob Stallman, issued the following statement after word came that the dispute over trucks entering the United States from Mexico has been resolved.
"The American Farm Bureau Federation is pleased that President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon have reached an agreement to resolve the dispute over cross-border trucking. This agreement has been a long time coming and, with half of the $2.4 billion in Mexican retaliatory tariffs to be lifted as soon as the agreement is finalized, this will have an immediate positive impact on U.S. agricultural exports. The remainder of the tariffs will be lifted when the necessary safety tests are completed and the first Mexican truck rolls across the U.S. border. We hope that the administration will push forward to finalize the agreement quickly.
"It is important for our trading partners to know that the United States lives up to its commitments under trade agreements. Re-establishing a reciprocal cross-border trucking program will go a long way toward restoring our credibility and our relationship with a vital trade partner.
"Mexico is our third-largest agricultural export market. Our farm and ranch exports to Mexico have, however, been hampered by this dispute and the retaliatory tariffs. The impact has touched a wide range of farm products from every state. Our competitors are filling the gap. This is not in our economic best interests. One of the straightest roads to economic growth and job creation in the U.S. is for members of Congress to get behind the agreement announced today, and we urge them to do so."
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The National Pork Producers Council also had praise for the Obama Administation on the agreement with Mexico- here is the news release from midday Thursday:
The National Pork Producers Council praised the Obama administration for announcing today an agreement in principle with Mexico to resolve a trade impasse over allowing Mexican trucks to haul goods into the United States.
The trucking dispute prompted Mexico to place tariffs on a host of U.S. products, including pork. In August, Mexico put a 5 percent tariff on U.S. bone-in hams a big export item and 20 percent on cooked pork skins in retaliation for the United States not complying with the trucking provision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The provision was supposed to become effective in December 1995.
The National Pork Producers Council has been urging the Obama administration to resolve as quickly as possible the trucking issue, which erupted in March 2009 when Mexico placed higher tariffs on an estimated $2.4 billion of U.S. goods after the U.S. Congress cut off funding to renew a pilot program that let a limited number of Mexican trucking companies to haul freight beyond a 25-mile U.S. commercial zone.
"This is great news for the U.S. pork industry, as well as for other sectors affected by Mexico's retaliatory tariffs," said NPPC President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa. "Pork producers have been hurt by this retaliation.
"So we're grateful to President Obama, Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk for their efforts in reaching this agreement with Mexico. We're also grateful to President Calderon and his administration for their efforts on this issue."
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