In a ruling passed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the President has been given the authority to open the U.S. border trucks from Mexico, and the federal agency responsible for truck safety has no say in the matter. The court ruling also negates the need for a lengthy environmental study. Thus, the President now has the power to open roads in the U.S. to Mexican trucks.
To shoe companies in the United States which have shoes made in Mexico, this is likely to offer real savings in time and money. As things now stand, goods coming from Mexico into the U.S. have to be offloaded from Mexican trucks and loaded onto U.S. trucks. The cost of this transfer, plus the delay in shipments, should U.S. trucks not be available, can be costly.
Under the new ruling, Mexican trucks can be loaded at the factory and driven across the border to the American company’s warehouse. Not only will this save the cost of transferring the goods from one truck to another, but it will also allow footwear to be brought to market a day or two earlier because there will be no delays at the U.S./Mexican border.
President Bush originally ordered the opening of U.S. roads to Mexican trucks in 2002, but the order has been tied up in courts. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signed inn 1993 by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, Mexican trucks were to have gained full access to U.S. roads, but the Clinton administration refused to grant the trucks entry.
