Bush OKs Mexican Truck Access Beyond Border Zones

As expected, President Bush approved a plan to allow Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways and markets beyond a narrow commercial zone along the border, implementing a long-delayed part of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The White House released a memorandum Nov. 27 from Bush to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, in which the president authorized Mineta to proceed with final actions to end a U.S. moratorium on Mexican truck access and to publish the notice in the Federal Register.

Mineta had signaled that the Bush decision was imminent, telling Transport Topics in a Nov. 20 interview that he was ready to recommend that the president open the border to Mexican trucking (Click here for related coverage.).

Mineta had said he was notifying the White House that DOT was ready to admit Mexican trucks to operate on U.S. roads. Mineta had told Transport Topics he was sending that letter just before a Nov. 25-26 meeting in which he and Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed border issues with Mexican officials.

"By modifying the moratorium, President Bush has made good on his commitment to open the border to international trucking and cross-border regular route bus service. This will help increase trade between our countries," Secretary Mineta said in a release. "Mexican carriers and drivers must meet the same standards as U.S. operators. I have made a lifelong commitment to equality under the law and will not, however, tolerate discriminatory enforcement. In this matter of trucking, as in all the modes of transportation, the pervasive issue is safety."

DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration must now act on about 130 applications for access by Mexican trucking companies, and news reports cited an FMCSA spokesman saing it would be about a month before the first trucks could cross the border under that expanded authority.

"We congratulate President Bush on the leadership that he provided in implementing the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement and allowing the application process to move forward," American Trucking Associations President William J. Canary said in a release. "This will only help further trade relations between our two countries."

In its press release, the DOT said it would be working closely with the Justice Department, the Office of Homeland Security and other federal agencies on the border opening.