U.S., Mexican Governments to Develop Border Plan

Although observers had widely expected the issue of cross-border trucking to be addressed this week during Mexican President Felipe Calderon's visit to Washington, D.C., the issue was only alluded to in remarks and statements by Calderon and President Obama following yesterday's meetings.

Instead, immigration reform and Mexico's battle against drug gangs seemed to dominate.

Presidents Obama and Calderon issued a joint statement after their meeting Wednesday that did not specifically mention cross-border trucking but did talk about the importance of "creating a border for the Twenty-First Century" and to look at ways to "facilitate the secure, efficient, and rapid flows of goods and people and reduce the costs of doing business between our two countries."

The two directed their respective cabinets to form a bilateral Executive Steering Committee to implement a Declaration on Twenty-First Century Border Management. That declaration calls for increased collaboration between the two countries to expedite trade while preventing illegal merchandise and immigrants from crossing the border.

Some of the areas of collaboration cited include:
* reducing congestion and delays in cross-border traffic;
* creating or adapting "trusted shipper" programs like the FAST and C-TPAT programs;
* Pre-screening of people goods and products crossing the border.

The executive steering committee, which is supposed to meet within three months, will be made up of representatives from relevant government offices -- including the transportation departments on both sides of the border.

During a hearing of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the Obama Administration was "very close" to announcing a plan that would resolve the cross-border trucking dispute with Mexico.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Mexico border was supposed to have been opened to border-state traffic in 1995 and to long-distance traffic in 2000. The opening was stalled until 2007, in part by difficult negotiations with Mexico, but mainly by the legislative and legal tactics of U.S. labor, owner-operator and citizen advocacy groups who fear loss of U.S. jobs to Mexican drivers and argue that Mexican trucks will not be safe. After Congress cut off a cross-border trucking pilot program by prohibiting funding for such a program, the Mexican government slapped $2.4 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.