Senators haggle over Mexican trucks

Democrats want Mexican trucking firms to conduct inspections

By BBC News Online's North America Business Reporter, David Schepp

Democrats have threatened to use a parliamentary procedure in the Senate in order to stave a vote on a contentious trade-agreement provision that would give Mexican trucks access to all US highways.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he would seek a "cloture vote" - which limits debate on bills - on Thursday if a compromise is not reached.

"I would hope that some accommodation could be reached on a vote on whatever amendments may be offered on Mexican trucking," Mr. Daschle said.

"We've got to get on with our work."

Republican backlash

The contentious Mexican trucking issue has been brewing since President George W Bush took office in January.

Currently, trucks based in Mexico are allowed to travel up to 20 miles inside the US border.

Mississippi Senator Trent Lott has called Democrats anti-Hispanic

Under a Bush administration proposal, Mexican trucks would be allowed unrestricted access for up to 18 months before audits and safety inspections would be conducted.

Mr Bush is eager to resolve the issue, which some have come to view as an example of US unfairness in implementing the 1993 North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

His proposal call for less stringent certification requirements than those currently being debated on the Senate floor, wanting to let Mexican vehicles drive throughout the US beginning 1 January.

A current bill put forth by Democrat Patty Murray and Republican Richard Selby would impose tougher conditions than the Bush proposal, including inspections that must be conducted in Mexico prior to arrival in the US.

Most Republicans oppose the latest bill being debated on the Senate floor because they say the safety provisions would take too long to implement.

Contentious issue

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott accused Democrats of being anti-Hispanic in seeking to keep Mexican trucks off US highways.

He also said Democrats are seeking more stringent requirements for Mexican trucks than those that currently apply to the US's northern neighbour, Canada.

Despite the heated rhetoric, Ms Murray said she would not back down from her safety concerns, although she was willing to consider some changes.

Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who represents Arizona as a senator, has aligned himself with President Bush on the issue, calling on the Senate to pass less stringent requirements.

Bush administration officials have warned lawmakers that serious trade and foreign-policy consequences await the US if Congress does not move quickly and fairly.

Mexico relations in jeopardy

"If enacted into law, that action could jeopardise our relations with Mexico and impede [Mexican] President [Vicente] Fox's effort to promote openness and reform," said Deputy Trade Representative Peter Allgeier, during recent congressional testimony.

The administration has proposed stiffened legislation that would call for inspections of Mexican lorries at the 27 US border crossings that would begin at the start of the new year.

The "Level 1" inspections, as they are called, would require inspectors to get under the vehicle and make a thorough safety check.

But Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta's proposals have met with lukewarm response from lawmakers.

Years of waiting

Nafta called for Mexican trucks to have unrestricted access to highways in border states - Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona - by 1995 and full access to all US highways by January 2000.

But in 1995, US President Clinton, motivated by safety concerns raised by unions representing US truckers, blocked the trade agreement's trucking provisions thus refusing entry to Mexican truckers along the two countries' shared 2,100 mile border.

The issue has been a bone of contention among not just unionised truckers and their companies but environmentalists as well, who raise not only safety concerns but also fear compromising US environmental standards by allowing Mexican trucks on US roads.

Labour leaders continue to press President Bush to put off an order to open the American border to Mexican trucks until safety measures are in place.

The Transportation Department has said about 9,000 Mexican trucking firms are expected to seek authority to operate throughout the US in 2002.