Meat and Poultry Products Not Part of Tariff Hikes
MEXICO - Meat and poultry products are not on the list of US products that will be subject to retaliatory tariffs, published by the Mexican government today in the Official Diary.
19 March 2009
1 minute read
According to the American Meat Institute (AMI), the list details US products that will be subject to the tariffs because of the recent termination of the NAFTA pilot program to allow Mexican trucks to operate on US roads.
The duties will take effect on 19 March. Mexico did not specify how long the retaliatory tariffs will remain in place, but said it would reconsider them as soon as the US comes up with a trucking program to replace the pilot program.
The US Congress eliminated funding for a pilot cross-border trucking project in the fiscal 2009 omnibus spending bill because of continued concerns about the safety of Mexican trucks. The Mexican government argues that the trucking program ban puts the United States in violation of NAFTA’s cross-border trucking commitments.
After Mexico threatened to slap $2.4 billion in retaliatory tariffs on US goods over the demise of a pilot cross-border trucking program, President Obama called on Congress to come up with a new pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to continue transporting goods in the United States.
The President has asked the Transportation Department to work with the US Trade Representative and State Department – along with Congress and Mexican officials – to come up with legislation creating a new cross-border trucking project.
TheCattleSite News Desk
