Should a NAFTA Promise Be Kept to Allow Mexican Trucks in U.S. Territory?
You remember the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), right? The trilateral trading pact consisting of the United States, Canada, and Mexico formed during the first Clinton Administration? NAFTA is now seventeen years old, and has been shaped by the policy of a second Clinton White House and two George W. Bush terms. Now President Barack Obama is making his mark on the trade agreement, and his most recent changes affect U.S. and Mexican truckers. In March, Obama ended a pilot program that had permitted Mexican drivers to transport goods on U.S. roads. The Teamsters and other unions such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supported the ban, believing that Mexican freight trucks pose a hazard to highways because they don’t meet U.S. safety standards. To retaliate, Mexico imposed tariffs on billions worth of American goods. A few weeks later, Mexican trade association Canacar, which represents more than 4,500 trucking companies, filed a $6 billion dollar (you re
