WASHINGTON - The United States will pay as much as $2.5 million from the federal Highway Trust Fund to equip Mexican trucks with electronic data recorders to ensure safety compliance, according to a Transportation Department fact sheet.
The data recorders are necessary to ensure Mexican companies are complying with safety regulations, the department said in a memorandum emailed to industry groups Friday. The U.S. funding will stop when the three-year pilot program for cross-border truck traffic ends, the department said.
"We believe this is a good investment for the country," the department said in the fact sheet.
The Highway Trust Fund, the main source of money for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is financed through U.S. fuel taxes.
In exchange for letting Mexican trucks enter the U.S., Mexico will drop tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of U.S. pork, cheese, corn and fruits, the White House said when the outlines of the agreement were announced March 3.
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Half the tariffs will be lifted as soon as the deal is signed, which should be in about 60 days, according to the fact sheet, and the remainder once the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration clears the first Mexican trucking company to participate in the pilot program.
Every Mexican truck crossing the border will be subject to a mandatory safety inspection for the first three months of its U.S. operations, the Transportation Department said in a Federal Register notice to be published next week.
The dispute between the two nations, which have a $393 billion trading relationship, dates to the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1995. U.S. officials have promised on multiple occasions to resolve the standoff.
The Mexican truck program will put further pressure on small U.S. carriers, which are already under strain from the economy and new safety and environmental regulations, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said.
"This is the wrong plan at the wrong time for numerous reasons," Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the group, said in an emailed statement. "The onus is on Mexico to raise the safety, security and environmental standards for their trucking industry."
In addition to data recorders tracking Mexican drivers' hours of service, the trucks will have global positioning systems, according to the Federal Register notice.
The devices will ensure that Mexican carriers don't violate cabotage laws, which forbid foreign trucks from making deliveries between U.S. cities, the American Trucking Associations said in a statement.
"This proposal requires Mexican carriers to follow all the same rules and regulations that their American counterparts are subject to and takes steps to monitor Mexican trucks," ATA Chief Executive Officer Bill Graves said.
Continuation of cross-border truck traffic will depend on "reciprocity" from Mexico, or allowing U.S. carriers south of the border, the Transportation Department said.
