U.S.-Mexico Trade Proceeds Despite Swine Flu

Trade moving by truck over the U.S.-Mexican border is so far unaffected by the Swine flu crisis emerging in the two countries.

“Right now no specific restrictions at the ports of entry at the land borders” between Mexico and the United States, said Martin D. Rojas, Executive Director for Safety, Security and Operations at the American Trucking Associations, speaking on an international trade panel in Washington, D.C. April 28.

“Customs said it’s business as usual so far, but if it reaches level five there could be some concern on commercial travel. I’m not sure what the next steps will be, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Reviving the U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking program, the topic of the panel discussion, may take a back seat while the two countries address the swine flu outbreak.

“This is a public health crisis that is part of a global health problem that has been forced on” the governments of the U.S. and Mexico, said Karen N. Antebi, economic counselor in the trade and NAFTA office of the Mexican Embassy. “We’re confident the trade issues between the two countries will be addressed once the (crisis) is contained.”

“The Department of Transportation can walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Doug Goudie, director of International Trade Policy for the National Association of Manufacturers, “so I assume they’ll be able to work on both issues at once.”

The outbreak could soon rattle supply chains across the globe, according to Adrian Gonzalez, head of the ARC Advisory Group’s logistics executive council, writing on the consultancy’s Logistics Viewpoints blog.

“Considering that Mexico is the United States’ second largest trading partner, I expect this outbreak to affect many other products and supply chains if the situation in Mexico worsens. If your supply chain team is not holding an emergency meeting this morning … to analyze this risk and its potential impact … you are setting yourself up for potential hardships in the days and weeks ahead.”

Contact John Gallagher at jgallagher@joc.com .