Associated Press / By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A long-running trade dispute between the United States and Mexico over the safety of Mexican trucks may be nearing an end.
A five-member arbitration panel set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement is scheduled to rule Thursday on the U.S. government's refusal to allow Mexican trucks on American highways, as required under NAFTA.
The panel ruled in favor of Mexico in a preliminary decision last November and is expected to stick with its decision.
"We expect them to rule against the United States and to cite that Mexico has laws on the books about highway safety and that they are making progress," said Bret Caldwell, a spokesman for the Teamsters Union, which opposes allowing the trucks to cross unfettered.
NAFTA called for Mexican trucks to have unrestricted access to highways in U.S. border states - Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona - by 1995 and full access to all U.S. highways by January 2000.
President Clinton, however, refused to follow the timetable. He was backed by U.S. Department of Transportation reports that gave low marks to Mexico's trucking safety standards and to Mexican trucks already crossing the border.
President Bush could discuss the issue with Mexico President Vicente Fox in a meeting Feb. 16. The Teamsters Union plans a protest rally the same day in Laredo, Texas.
During his presidential campaign, Bush called on Clinton to comply with NAFTA. Soon he must decide whether to live up to the treaty. He can agree with the ruling or refuse and negotiate compensation with Mexico. If he takes the latter, Mexico can name its price, including holding out for the highway access.
Mexico estimates that about 14,000 trucks a day cross the border and that it has lost about $2 billion because of the U.S. policy.
Lori Wallach, director of Global Trade Watch, a consumer group, said her organization "is strongly urging the Bush administration that no matter what the ruling is, they keep the border closed and pay compensation."
Wallach said the United States inspects two million trucks on its highways every year, including 1 percent of the four million that come from Mexico. The Department of Transportation has said another three million could be on U.S. highways with the NAFTA ruling, Wallach said.
"The reality is if you want to make sure Mexican trucks are safe, you have to inspect every one. ... You can't do it unless you have more resources going into truck inspection than into the U.S. Army," she said.
The Department of Transportation Inspector General's Office said 35 percent of Mexican trucks that entered the United States were put out of service last year for significant safety violations.
But the American Trucking Associations, which has lobbied for opening up U.S. highways to Mexican trucks, says opening the highways will eliminate many of the older Mexican trucks that present most of the safety problems.
Currently, Mexican trucks travel near the border and transfer their loads to so-called drayage tractors, which are typically older vehicles that cross the border and travel a few miles to transfer their loads to American trucks.
NAFTA would eliminate passing cargo between various trucks and simply allow one to go across to its ultimate destination.
Should Bush decide to comply with terms of NAFTA, complete highway access might not be immediate. Martin Rojas of the trucking associations predicts the U.S. government will follow a phase-in plan, giving the trucks access to border states first and then to the rest of the country.
The issue could hold some political problems for Bush and Fox, said Wallach.
"This could backfire," she said. "If the border is open and there is the predictable wreck, a tragedy, that story becomes the face of NAFTA.":
