When the Mexican government imposed punitive tariffs last year on $2.4 billion in American products the average Mexican citizen may not have noticed. But no more. Try finding a U.S.-grown Christmas tree in Mexico City this week. They are scarce since Mexico’s usual suppliers of holiday evergreens, growers in the states of California and Oregon, have been priced out of the market by a 20 percent tariff.
Oregon potato growers and Washington pear exporters are also singing the Christmas blues. No partridges in American-grown pear trees for Mexico this year. The Mexican government levied those tariffs in a completely transparent manner because of U.S. policy to keep a small number of well-inspected Mexican trucks off the U.S. roads and void a deal previously struck under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Heritage Senior Policy Analyst Ray Walser confirmed the shortage last week during a visit to Mexico’s capital. Mexican buyers are having to settle for homegrown trees. Last year the situation was so bad that Oregon Christmas tree growers ended up burning their unsold trees.
This year, as the grinches in the Obama Administration (and their Teamster Union supporters) continued to drag their feet on settling the dispute, the trees were not even cut. Maybe the Mexicans can send Cindy Loo Hoo to the White House to plead their case!
A better solution, however, would be for the Obama Administration to make a New Year’s resolution to follow Heritage’s longstanding recommendation, resolve the dispute by restoring funding to the “Mexican Truck Pilot Program,” and then expand it and make it permanent.
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incompetent, weak government leadership once again. Putting government consequences on the people instead of the accountable.
Riddle: Over time, the American government majority lost it. Sometimes the Mexican government, tries it. What is it? Answer: the knowledge of the difference between right and wrong and standing strong on what is right.
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we dont need any mexican trucks or drivers on our roads.and the illegals have given a long history of killing and maiming us and then running away from responsibility and justice.
as far as i am concerned, wall mexico off and throw anything that belongs to them back over the wall.
This author doesn't know a thing about NAFTA, or the mexico domeciled trucking companies. Just another liberal whining about anything that'll get them some attention. We have standards that they CANNOT meet, and that is why we have no mexican trucks running our highways.
Had this author done his homework, he would understand that. I suggest we start hiring mexican "news" story writers, I know they could do a better job than this hack. Happy Holidays and be lucky we'll still haul your presents.
BTW the teamsters have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the Mexican government has no way to properly regulate their trucking industry. Move to Mexico and straighten it out for them, Einstein!