Mexico Retaliates With Tariffs on U.S. Products

reply to post by jam321


Need to clarify some things here. The program was a one year trial to see if the Mexican companies and government could live up to the conditions of running a truck legally in the US in accordance to FMCSA Regulations on operators hours of service, a accessible national database, licensing standards, book keeping, log books, sulfur content in the fuel and a whole variety of regulations that are in a book that is about 2 inches thick. Just like US and Canadian drivers and companies comply with every day.

The one year pilot program was ramrodded through by gold old GW Bush against Congressional legislation to stop it from happening in the first place by having the Sec of Transportation approve it anyway.

The one year has been up for some time now and the pilot program has expired, finally. Well maybe. Because no one is absolutely certain that all trucks are remaining in the free operation zone they always had.

It should also be pointed out that the majority of Mexican companies that did participate in the program are owned by parent transportation companies in the US. One such company is Celadon based in Indiana and I think they own Jaguar in Mexico and Gerth in Canada.

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Ahabstar]

It's all well and good to blame Mexico for not having the opportunities or the capital to employ more of their citizens....But let's get real here, their economic outlook is pretty dire and, in comparison to the United States, HAS been for a heck of a long time. You can't just create a flourishing economy out of thin air, and they do not have the vast natural resources that we do here in the States.
And with things the way they are now, alot of illegals are actually heading back to Mexico because there is no work here. Now THAT is a sign that things aren't going so great here in our beloved America.

reply to post by Bunch

There is wealth is Mexico just in the hands of a few.

Very true. I also believe that the way the US is going, that statement you made will also be true in the US. The amount of wealth that has been destroyed in the last six months is staggering. In fact, it is ironic that if things continue to deteriorate any more economically, Mexicans may no longer come to the US to feed their families, because the jobs are drying up here very quickly. Food lines are already getting longer here. I volunteer in a church "soup" kitchen, and numbers have increased drastically in the last several months. Every week, I see more new faces that are in economic dire straights.
The US will soon reach a breaking point, where the resources will not be available for aid to those who really need it.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Definitely, that is exactly part of the point that I was just trying to make too! And many of them area already beginning to leave, and i'm sure over the next year many more will follow.

reply to post by jam321
About the only connection I can see is they both involve "trade" but that's reeeallly strrettchingg it. And Mexicans.

Not much else there except a distinct distate for Mexico/Mexicans, which I don't share - I used to love vising Mexico, first wife was Mexican-American. And my mom.

jw

[edit on 17-3-2009 by jdub297]

Originally posted by jam321
reply to post by Bunch

 

Last time I checked Mexico didn't force US employers to hire illegals.

True

Mexico didn't force the US to allow 50% of the people who were issued a US visa to overstay their visits.

True

Mexico didn't tell the US government to authorize appear in court slips to OTM's (Other Than Mexicans) that were apprehended on the border and who later never appeared for court.

Also true

And I still don't see the connection you are making about the trucks and illegal immigration.

In my OP I dont make a direct connection between the two, I allude to the audacity of the Mexican government and their hipocrisy in this issue when for decades we have been in fact sustaining their economy with the hiring of the citizens legally or illegally.

I country that is proud of themselves would not encourage their citizens to leave their country to work in another as way to maintain their economy. It would not subject their citizens to that, it would find the means and ways to create policies that would keep their citizens happily in their country.

The Mexican government can cry foul about NAFTA all they want, anyone who know something about NAFTA can tell you that the US got the worst end of the deal and we havent slap Mexican products with tariffs.

BTW welcome back.

Glad to be back too...I really missed you all...

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Bunch]

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Bunch]

Originally posted by mpriebe81 You can't just create a flourishing economy out of thin air, and they do not have the vast natural resources that we do here in the States.

Really?

Outside of the Middle East, Mexico sits on some of the largest oil reserves in the world. It has copper, gold and silver coming out of its ears. Huge coastlines on both the Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean and the fisheries and tourism that go with them. Verdant Southern forests and farmlands.

If all you know are the border deserts, or what you've seen in movies, you've missed a lot.

Mexico's problems are not lack of wealth or resources. They're political and ideological. Distribution of wealth and oligarchic dynasties are problems the US cannot affect and Mexico doesn't really want to change.

A reference to Chavez and Venezuela earlier in this thread may have some truth to it. Maybe falling oil revenue, the growth of leftist governments in southern neighbors and the slowed economy will embolden the general population to do something about it.

We won't. They are too proud to let us, anyway.

jw

reply to post by Bunch


Can't really say who is getting the best of who. Especially considering that a lot of things being imported from Mexico is because of the businesses( auto industries) that have set up shops in Mexico to get their parts produced cheaper.


Here is some stats from 2007.

Mexico’s Top Exports & Imports
Most Popular Products Traded Between Mexico & America

internationaltrade.suite101.com...

reply to post by InfaRedMan


My point is that the Bush/Cheny policies abroad were wrong. Obama is wrong to continue those same policies -- seriously and horrifyingly wrong -- and if the "Invade first, come up with a plan second, occupy for no legitimate reason" is to be continued as the Bush/Obama Doctrine then why not invade Mexico and Central America in the scenario sketched. As others have said, the USA would find itself on much better footing if it had invaded Mexico instead of Iraq.

Of course, it is best for the USA to resist all foreign entanglements as your Founders made clear in their documents.

reply to post by mpriebe81


Common...

-In the top ten of oil producing countries and the company is a monopoly owned by the state.

-Mine of gold, zinc and the top producer of Silver in the WORLD! Third largest copper producer in the world in the hands of a few billionares.

-One of the premier tourist destinations in Latin America

Like I said before there is wealth and resources in Mexico, just in the hands of a few.

Mexico just needs to comply with the U.S. Safety codes in regards to transportation i.e. commercial trucking if they want the deal to progress.

I don't know where the rest of the people here live but on the freeways in Dallas, Texas there are about as many semis driving around on the roads as cars. I don't want a bunch of unsafe 70,000lbs trucks carrying who knows what kind of cargo. To suddenly cause a massive accident because the semi can't be maintained properly.

To me Mexico enforcing a tariff on some of our products is nothing more then a child throwing a tantrum when he can't have any more ice-cream.

reply to post by Pellevoisin


Agreed, our past and current policies of interventionism are disgusting. We remain in 2 countries, killing people who only want us to get out and leave them in peace, and to what end? There is no clear goal or reasoning behind any of this, it's all rhetoric and propaganda without anything logical to back it up. I don't consider myself an isolationist by any means, but we need to pull this whole thing WAAY back and focus on issues here at home, like illegal immigration for example. Clearly the whole issue would be moot if we actually enforced our borders, but in all reality little has been done to improve the security of our southern border. I strongly feel that there is just too much money to be made by taking a lax approach to this issue. I think the US government will continue to voice concerns about illegal immigration, but take no real active measures to stem the flow.

But, if the economy continues to fall I doubt it will be much of an issue soon enough.

[edit on 17-3-2009 by mpriebe81]

reply to post by Bunch


I am well aware of that, there is indeed plenty of wealth in the hands of the few.
I was merely trying to get across my view that, although there is wealth to be had in Mexico, there really aren't that many opportunities for the citizens of that nation to become gainfully employed.

Originally posted by Bunch
reply to post by Redpillblues

 

If their is a country that should be thanking about their relatioship and luck of being so close to the US that should be Mexico.

Really?, being tankful on a neighbor for having the largest market for drugs which creates all the mess in the first place?, but of course is much easier to blame everything to other countries and turn a blind eye to the internal corruption who allows the distribution of all those drugs, and of course to those poor fellow americans who consume the cr@p brought by those bad mexican bandits...

reply to post by zarlaan

Mexico just needs to comply with the U.S. Safety codes in regards to transportation i.e. commercial trucking if they want the deal to progress.

Even if they were deemed safe, Congress would still fight the measure tooth and nail. Not hard to see that the unions are the ones that don't want the trucks in.

How many unsafe trucks did they find in the pilot program?

reply to post by kazike


The drug cartel problem in Mexico is not the fault of the US, is their problem! Is happening on their country and they should fix it. Or do we have to do that for them too? Ok lets take all the drug cartels and give them visas and put them here, lets see if that would appease them.

Crime flourishes is areas that for long have been neglected by their governement, when the situation is so dire that people resolt to criminal activity in order to put food on the table for themselves and their families.

If is true that the U.S. is the largest consumer of illegal drugs, then it is also true that the Mexican government has long planted the seed for this Drug Cartels to flourish.

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Bunch]

I have a question for anyone interested.

Why is that you in anyway feel more entitled to a job than someone who happened to be born 100 miles south of you. I'm Canadian and am more open to immigration to most but still. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't love Canada for the land it consists of I love it because of what it stands for, if someone wants to come here, work hard, obey the law I have absolutely no problem with them providing for their family.

Yes I realize that the Mexican government should do it's best to improve their economy, but I'm not prepared to blame someone that only wants some money to get by. Whoever said that America should cut off their food? That's disturbing to hear and I can't believe your morality allows you to say such things. It sounds like you live in the southern states, to me I just can't believe how entitled some people are because they're parents came 50 or whatever years ago and happened to live above some arbitrary border.

Again who knows maybe you'll all disagree with me, to me that is what all my moralities and common sense tells me. I don't put my political ideals in terms of what helps me the most, but rather what helps society the most. I fully believe that if you know what your doing, which I think I do you'll succeed no matter what, and it's the least I can do to help others that aren't so lucky as to have the resources I had growing up.

[edit on 17-3-2009 by DJones]

[edit on 17-3-2009 by DJones]

reply to post by mpriebe81


I totally agree with you.
And speaking of corruption....I have never seen the US gov't really go after the people who operate the channels of distribution in this country and also go after the people who let the drug enter the country in the first place. I mean, they reach all the way up to Alaska.

Originally posted by crawgator406
notice how they only put tarrifs on products coming across.
the funny thing is that they didn't put tariffs on the grain , corn, rice , and beans that are coming into their country. i say we cut off their food and see how much their additude changes.

That would actually be good for them. They finally would start increasing their own domestic production of these grains and that would create jobs.

reply to post by haika


Yep, they're making too much easy money off of it to ever crack down.
You hear about "major" busts in the news from time to time, but all that dope finds it's way into our neighborhoods time and again.