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Dairy Groups Applaud U.S. Government Action to Resolve NAFTA Trucking Dispute with Mexico

October 7, 2012

In response to the long-standing lack of U.S. compliance with its trucking obligations to Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico has been legally levying tariffs on a variety of U.S. exports since March 2009. In August 2010, Mexico added a new retaliation list that included many U.S. cheeses.

At a meeting Thursday in Washington between the heads of states of both nations, an agreement was announced to put the U.S. on the path to resolving the cross-border trucking dispute.

NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council said they are looking forward to a swift process by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to complete a final agreement. It is expected that DOT will issue a Federal Register with the proposed rules for a 30 day comments. Once the Department of Transportation reviews all of the comments, it must issue a final rule. This rule will be deemed the final agreement.

The Government of Mexico has announced that once a final agreement has been reached, Mexico will suspend its retaliatory tariffs on dairy products by 50 percent (if the retaliatory tariffs are 20%). After the final agreement, the tariff will be reduced by half to 10 percent and will suspend the remaining half when the first Mexican carrier is approved to cross the border.