Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives today voted to end a pilot program to allow Mexican and U.S. trucks to operate across the border, a program implemented to comply with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
H.R. 6630 terminates the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) cross-border demonstration project and prohibits the agency from granting new authority for Mexican trucks to operate beyond the commercial zones on the border without express authorization by Congress. The bill passed by a vote of 395 to 18.
“This bill puts the brakes on a program that was forced on the Bush Administration after President Clinton supported NAFTA provisions that required admitting Mexican trucks across our border,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican Leader and bill cosponsor John L. Mica (R-FL). “Although the program forced on the Bush Administration by a NAFTA panel reflected minimal compliance, it’s appropriate that Congress rejects the panel’s decision and protects U.S. interests on this issue.”
In 2001, a NAFTA panel ruled the United States was violating its NAFTA obligations by adopting a blanket ban on trucks from Mexico operating beyond the 20-mile commercial zone around U.S.–Mexican border crossings. On September 6, 2007, DOT began the cross-border demonstration project in order to comply with NAFTA’s trucking provisions, allowing a limited number of Mexican trucks to operate in the U.S. and a limited number of U.S. trucks to operate in Mexico. Although included in NAFTA, President Clinton never implemented these provisions.
“Before the border is completely opened to Mexican trucks, we must ensure the safety of motorists on our highways,” said Highways and Transit Subcommittee Ranking Member John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN). “No matter how much we want to have good relations with our friends in Mexico, our first obligation is to the American people. H.R. 6630 will help ensure the safety of our nation’s highways and help protect our American trucking companies, our small businesses, and our truck drivers.”
“I support open and fair trade, but what passed in NAFTA was an unfair agreement that sent American jobs south and allowed Mexican trucks to go north,” Mica added. “In 1993, President Clinton only had positive things to say about NAFTA. On September 21, 1993, President Clinton said NAFTA is ‘the right thing to do; it’s good for jobs and good for Americans.’ With this bill, Congress can at least address one aspect of this unfair agreement.”
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