As Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa asked, "How is this a reciprocal trade deal?" Mexico obviously can't offer the same access to its markets that the U.S. can offer to Mexico. Said Hoffa in the press release,
Mexico can’t guarantee the safety of U.S. truckers because it can’t control the drug cartels that killed 12,000 people last year. U.S. drivers are scared to death to drive down there.Teamsters lawyers submitted 41 pages of arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Hoffa also said,
The FMCSA makes the bizarre argument that our members aren’t harmed by a program that opens the border to low-paid truck drivers and dangerous, dirty trucks. Try telling that to our members.
U.S. commercial truck drivers must follow all U.S. safety regulations while Mexican drivers only need to follow selected Mexican regulations. The government is flat-out wrong to say Mexican trucks and drivers meet equivalent standards.Hoffa had predicted that the pilot program would be a dismal failure, and it looks like he's right. After six months, three drivers and two trucks had made nine trips beyond the border zone.
Nice work, FMCSA.
Read the whole thing here.
