Teamsters Commend Rep. DeFazio for Stand on Renegotiating NAFTA

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International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Apr 16, 2010, 04:22 ET

Hoffa: Ending Truck Deal Is the Way To End Dispute With Mexico

WASHINGTON, April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa today commended Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio for asking administration officials to repeal the agreement opening the border to Mexican trucks.

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Hoffa had personally urged members of Congress to sign a "dear colleague" letter circulated by DeFazio. In the letter, DeFazio asked U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to renegotiate a part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that allows for cross-border trucking between the U.S. and Mexico. The letter was signed by 78 members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans.

"Rep. DeFazio has offered a straightforward and permanent solution to this dispute with Mexico, which has dragged on for nearly two decades," Hoffa said. "Mexico has had plenty of time to raise safety standards for its trucks, but it failed. Mexico has also failed to bring the horrifying drug violence within its borders under control. The U.S. government has a duty to protect its citizens by withdrawing from our cross-border trucking agreement with Mexico.

"Mexican trucks are not only a danger on our highways, but they're the No. 1 way drug traffickers smuggle illegal narcotics to hundreds of American cities," Hoffa said. "When U.S. citizens are being executed by drug commandos across the river from El Paso, it's time to put an end to this ill-considered agreement."

In March 2009, Congress cut the funds for a pilot program that opened the border to Mexican trucks. President Obama immediately shut the program down, and Mexico retaliated with tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of goods. The Teamsters view those tariffs as excessive and have called on administration officials to challenge them.

"The solution to this dispute is not to open the border, but to reopen NAFTA," Hoffa said. "I commend Rep. DeFazio for recognizing the dangers posed by Mexican trucks to our citizens."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters