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On Tuesday, the Senate voted 74-24
to ban Mexican trucks from America's highways. It will be
included in a transportation bill to be voted on later this week.
NAFTA provides for Mexican trucks to come into the U.S. when equivalent
safety standards are in place. But NAFTA was a bad idea, and
spawned a lot of other bad ideas enrshrined in trade agreements.
We know what "equivalent standards" mean. Nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. China's lead paint standards exceed the stringency of U.S. standards, but we now know how effective that is.
Byron Dorgan (D ND) sponsored the bill. If the measure
gets into the omnibus transportation bill after conference committee,
will Bush veto it?
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board members are crying in
their martinis. I've reprinted their editorial dismay below the
fold (hit "read more").
REVIEW & OUTLOOK - Wall Street Journal
Roadblock
September 13, 2007; Page A16
Tuesday's
Senate vote to block funding for a federal pilot program to monitor the
safety of Mexican trucks entering the U.S. is yet another sign that
protectionists in Washington are growing more bold. A similar measure
has already passed the House. The Teamsters and their Capitol Hill
allies no doubt expect that if the bill becomes law, Mexican trucks
will be kept out of the U.S. for at least another year.
Under the 1993 Nafta accord, Mexican trucking companies should have
been delivering their loads to U.S. destinations for more than a decade
by now. But since the Clinton Administration banned Mexican trucks in
1995, they have had to offload their cargo at the border and transfer
it to Teamster trucks, raising costs for U.S. consumers.
In 2001 a Nafta arbitration panel ruled the U.S. ban on Mexican trucks
violated the treaty and granted Mexico the right to retaliate. The Bush
Administration crafted the pilot program to open the market and at the
same time address safety concerns. The program would allow limited
cross-border trucking in both directions, with inspections required.
The Teamsters sued, but even the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied
their request for a stay. So the Teamsters turned to Congress, which is
now obliging under the whip of North Dakota protectionist Byron Dorgan.
As a legal matter, we're told it isn't clear that Congress can stop the
Department of Transportation from granting operating authority to
Mexican competitors. But President Bush should veto this attempt in any
case. Washington might also keep in mind that Mexico is not without its
own remedies under Nafta. Retaliation could come in the form of
punitive tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports, starting, say, with
goods from North Dakota.
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