Mexico Retaliates with Tariffs

Mexico will place tariffs on nearly 90 U.S. products after the United States abruptly canceled a program that allowed some trucks from Mexico to operate across the border.

Gerardo Ruiz Mateos, Mexico's economy minister, said in a statement that there will be an "increase in customs duty on almost 90 industrial and agricultural products," but he did not provide a list of those products. He said that the tariffs would affect products from 40 U.S. states, which amounted to about $2.4 billion in trade in 2007.

Ruiz said that when the U.S. Senate voted recently to nullify the program that allowed select Mexican trucks licensed by the Department of Transportation to operate in the United States that action violated a section of the North American Free Trade Agreement that was supposed to have opened cross-border trucking years ago. "We consider that this action of the United States is mistaken, protectionist and clearly in violation of the (NAFTA) treaty," Ruiz said.

The 18-month long program met with fierce opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. Safety groups and the Teamsters union also complained that it would open U.S. roads to unsafe and unmonitored drivers. Few Mexican truckers participated in the program — far fewer than the 100 carriers with 1,000 trucks envisioned when the program was launched in 2007.

The White House said Monday that it wanted to work with U.S. lawmakers to create a new cross-border trucking project with Mexico. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said U.S. lawmakers and officials, along with Mexican officials, would work on legislation for a new plan "that will meet the legitimate concerns of Congress and our NAFTA commitments." Mexico announced the retaliatory measure against U.S. imports nine days before an official visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

U.S. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., said the action was predictable.

"I deeply regret the action taken by the Mexican government and the harm it may cause to American businesses,” McCain said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this is a predictable reaction by the Mexican government to a policy that now puts the United States in clear violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and was inappropriately inserted into the Omnibus appropriations bill. We must take steps to prevent escalation of further protectionist measures — actions that only serve to harm American business during these tough economic times."