Mexico has threatened to close the border to U.S. trucks if Mexican trucks are not granted access to U.S. highways as stipulated in the North American Free Trade Agreement.

According to published reports, Mexican President Vicente Fox Thursday weighed in on the battle in Washington over the issue. A Senate transportation spending bill passed this week would set tougher standards for Mexican trucks wanting to operate in the United States, while the House version refused to fund authority applications for Mexican trucks.
"If there continues to be resistance and there is no agreement, it will simply mean Mexican trucks will not go over there because they are not permitted or wanted," Fox said. "But neither will there be American trucks here."
Mexico's Congress on Wednesday passed a measure calling for the Fox administration to close the border to U.S. trucks if Washington fails to comply with NAFTA rules.
President Bush has threatened to veto the transportation funding bills, saying they violate NAFTA.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Thursday that there appear to be little or no data to prove that Mexican long- haul trucks and truckers are far more dangerous than their American counterparts.
The trucks that make the crossings along the 2,100-mile border with the United States are older and less well-maintained vehicles used solely to travel the short distances from terminals on the Mexican side to depots on the American side. They would never be used for long hauls into the United States, reports the paper.