Chronology of Mexico truck program
Feb. 24, 2009
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D.-N.D., announces he’s put language in the 2009 appropriations bill that would end once and for all the Cross Border Demonstration Project. Dorgan crafts the language in such a manner that the Department of Transportation can’t continue the program like it did when Dorgan and other senators put language in a 2007 bill prohibiting the “establishment” of a Mexico truck program. The DOT interpreted that to refer to any future program and that the existing program could continue.
Feb. 25, 2009
The House approves the bill containing Dorgan’s language.
Feb. 27, 2009
Sources tell The Trucker that Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will not fight to have the language removed from the bill before it is signed by President Barack Obama.
March 6, 2009
Dorgan says he’s not opposed to having Mexican trucks do long-haul deliveries into the U.S.; he just wants to make certain that there is a reasonable level of safety for such a program. “In my judgment, the Bush administration rushed to establish a demonstration program in September 2007, despite the fact that there were significant safety problems that had not been addressed,” Dorgan said in a letter to LaHood.
March 11, 2009
President Obama says he is far from happy with the omnibus bill, but signs it because “it’s necessary for the ongoing functions of government.” In a demonstration of his discomfort with the bill, Obama did not sign it in public, according to The Associated Press. And he declined to answer a shouted reporter's question about why, according to AP.
The Department of Transportation says Obama has tasked the DOT to work with the U.S. Trade Representative and the State Department, along with leaders in Congress and Mexico, to propose a new trucking project “that will meet the legitimate concerns of Congress and our NAFTA commitments.”
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative says the Obama administration will try to reinvent a program to give Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways.
March 16, 2009
Mexico announces tariff increases of $2.4 billion on up to 90 U.S. exports to Mexico in response to the halting of the Mexico truck pilot program.
The White House says it wants to work with lawmakers to restore a program that allows a cross-border trucking program with Mexico.
March 26, 2009
It is learned that Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has sent a letter to Obama urging him to take action against tariffs imposed by Mexico. “These tariffs are illegal and should be treated as nothing more than political gamesmanship. Mexico has no legal grounds to implement any of these tariffs,” DeFazio writes. “Even if there was a legal basis for the tariffs, the $2.4-billion price tag is a disproportionate response, and the 90 U.S. products targeted for tariffs were illegally selected.”
April 1, 2009
Several trucking industry stakeholders meet with LaHood to offer ideas on how the U.S. could craft the new cross-border program. Among those attending are Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations; Jim Johnston, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association; OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer; Teamsters President James Hoffa; and representatives of several safety advocate organizations, including Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and Public Citizen. Sources say the Obama administration wants to at least have a legislative program concept in place before Obama visits Mexico on April 16-17.
April 7, 2009
The closure of the U.S. market to Mexican carriers as a result of the termination of the Cross Border Demonstration Project is causing billions of dollars in losses to Mexican motor carriers, CANACAR, a trade association representing individual carriers within the Mexican trucking industry, says in a Notice of Arbitration document filed and released by the State Department.
April 8, 2009
An ad hoc coalition of some 140 business, manufacturing, food and agricultural organizations sends a letter to Obama urging him to quickly resolve the dispute with Mexico over allowing its trucks to transport goods into the United States. “We need to get this trucking issue resolved,” Don Butler, president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), says. “Although U.S. pork products were not included on the retaliation list, they could be in the future, and, more importantly, our trading partners need assurance that the United States will live up to its trade obligations.”
April 13, 2009
Bloomberg.com reports that Obama will be urged by Mexican President Felipe Calderon to let Mexican trucks farther into the U.S. when Obama visits Mexico April 16-17. Mexico’s Deputy Transportation Minister Humberto Trevino tells Bloomberg that “We don’t simply want to re-establish the pilot project we had, but to have a project with a lot more reach.”
Senior Obama administration officials discussing the trip to Mexico say they don’t anticipate an immediate resolution of the Mexico truck program but that the president will be “diligently working through” the issue with Mexican officials.
April 14, 2009
Reuters reports that LaHood has sent to the White House recommendations for ending the NAFTA trucking dispute. Reuters attributes the information to an administration aide. Reuters says the White House declined to say whether the administration would make an announcement before the president's trip on a proposal to allow long-haul Mexican trucks to operate deeper in the United States.
April 16-17, 2009
Obama meets with Calderon. Nothing is reported about whether the two men actually discussed the Mexico truck and tariff issues.
May 21, 2009
LaHood says he’s sent a proposal to the White House for a program to replace the pilot project and that he’s ready to head to Capitol Hill to convince members of Congress a new program is a go. “We’ve put together a Mexican truck program that we think meets the criteria from our discussions with a number of members of Congress,” LaHood says. LaHood adds that to craft the program, he has personally gone to Capitol Hill and met with 28 to 30 members of the House and Senate to find out from them what it would really take to get their support.
Aug. 11, 2009
Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon meet in Guadalajara, Mexico. According to The Associated Press, the two men press for a new tone in the United States' relationship with Mexico but find no immediate progress on the divisions between them over the pace of U.S. drug-fighting aid and a ban on Mexican trucks north of the border.
Sept. 15, 2009
U.S. Trade reports that a meeting between members of a business coalition and a DOT official has apparently confirmed what many in the transportation industry have already come to believe — that healthcare and highways have trumped any plan to resume a cross-border trucking relationship with Mexico. The meeting involves members of the Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs and Roy Kienitz, the DOT’s undersecretary for policy. Kienitz signals that a resolution is unlikely for 2009, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade. According to the published article, Kienitz says he would be "surprised" if the Obama administration attempted to resolve the dispute in 2009.
Oct. 27, 2009
The Associated Press reports that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk says he is heartened that provisions banning funding for a Mexican truck program haven't been included in 2010 appropriation bills. "We're at least encouraged that we won't be handcuffed to the appropriation’s language," Kirk says as reported in the AP story.
Dec. 18, 2009
The Trucker reports that Mexico Transport and Communications Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas has met with LaHood in the U.S. in late October or early November and a replacement program for the Cross Border Demonstration Project was high on the agenda. Meanwhile, Mexican sources familiar with the issue say the two countries are not close to agreeing on a replacement program because in the words of the source, “movement on the U.S. side has been pretty slow.” The DOT later confirms the meeting took place Oct. 26 and says that issues of mutual interest were discussed and that the two secretaries hope to meet again sometime in 2010.
Feb. 9, 2010
At the conclusion of a two-day visit to Mexico, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk tells reporters that the Obama administration has taken the first step toward renewing the pilot program as stipulated in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but still must work with Congress on fashioning a new program, according to a story on the Dow Jones newswire. Kirk does not expound on what the “first step” would entail, but a spokesperson for the United States Trade Representative’s Office says Kirk has said in some one-on-one interviews and during a press conference that the Obama administration is encouraged that the prohibitory language that was in the 2009 appropriations bill is not included in the 2010 bill. This is a meaningful green light to move forward with a program that is safe, the spokesperson says, adding that Kirk said in Mexico that he, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and LaHood will engage Congress regarding its concerns about the program.
Feb. 23, 2010
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) calls on Kirk to immediately challenge the legality of the Mexican tariffs so that the debate regarding cross-border trucking with Mexico can be shifted from economics to highway safety and security.
March 1, 2010
Fifty-six lawmakers sign a letter to LaHood and Kirk expressing their concern about “the lack of action and transparency by the DOT and the U.S. Trade Representative to address tariffs imposed by Mexico” and urging the DOT and USTR to come up with a solution quickly.
March 3, 2010
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., questions Kirk about progress toward a new program during a Senate committee hearing. Kirk acknowledges the tariffs are hurting U.S. agricultural interests and says the administration wants to get the issue resolved.
March 4, 2010
LaHood, appearing before a Senate subcommittee during a hearing about the 2011 DOT budget, says the administration is “very near” a proposal to present to Congress. A spokesman for LaHood office can’t define “very near” in terms of a timeline.