Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Mexican Truck Dispute

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he U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would decide whether the Bush administration can open the border to Mexican trucks without a court-ordered environmental study.

The court will hear arguments early next year and rule by July, Bloomberg reported.

President Bush decided in 2001 to open the border to Mexican truckers under the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the $1.8 million study was ordered in January over long-standing opposition from U.S. labor, consumer and environmental organizations.

At the time, the Bush administration said it would comply with that order, but also appealed to the Supreme Court in September. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Since 1982, trucks from Mexico have been allowed only in 20-mile commercial border zones, where Mexican rigs must transfer their cargo to U.S. trucks for deliveries within the United States. Mexican trucks make approximately 4.5 million border crossings every year.

The study would analyze short- and long-term environmental effects of opening U.S. roads to Mexican trucks, the Associated Press reported. While the study would not stop Mexican trucks from operating in the long run, but consumer group Public Citizen has said it should lessen potentially harmful effects.

The rules on Mexican trucks had been challenged by the Teamsters, which represents 65,000 long-haul U.S. truckers, as well as Public Citizen and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

Public Citizen said the study is under way and would be well along by the time the Supreme Court heard and decided the case, AP said.