OBAMA GIVES AMERICAN TRUCKING JOBS TO MEXICO

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/03/109801/us-mexico-reach-deal-to-end-trucking.html

U.S., Mexico reach deal to end trucking dispute
By Tim Johnson | McClatchy NewspapersMEXICO CITY ­ Mexico and the United States
agreed in principle Thursday to open U.S. highways to Mexican long-haul trucks,
ending a lingering safety dispute that prompted Mexico to impose more than $2 billion in
retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exporters.

"After nearly 20 years, we finally have found a clear path to resolving the dispute over
trucking between our two countries," President Obama said at a White House news
conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at his side.

The agreement calls for Mexico to lift 50 percent of its retaliatory tariffs immediately
while Mexican truckers undergo safety, language and driver training.

Obama said that he would move ahead "in a way that strengthens the safety of
cross-border trucking, lifts tariffs on billions of dollars of U.S. goods, expands our
exports to Mexico and creates jobs on both sides of the border."

But Teamsters union president Jim Hoffa charged that the agreement "caves in to
business interests," adding that "Mexican trucks simply don't meet the same standards
as U.S. trucks."

And a group representing 152,000 independent truckers said the agreement would make
their struggle to survive amid a sour economy even more difficult.

"Simply unbelievable," Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said in a statement.
"For all the president's talk of helping small businesses survive, his administration is
sure doing their best to destroy small trucking companies and the drivers they employ."