Obama drives US Teamsters jobs to Mexico

[firstandten]

Here's the back story and why Obama is doing this at the risk of upsetting the Teamsters



"In 2007, President George W. Bush implemented a pilot program that allowed a limited number of trucks to enter select parts of the United States. Last year, a stealth provision tacked onto the stimulus package by Democrats killed the pilot program, and launched the Mexican tariffs.
The original list of items subject to tariff included 89 U.S. exports. Last week, Mexico announced a new set of tariffs that broadens the list to 99 items — subtracting some from the first list and adding more — valued at $2.5 billion. Newly affected products include pork, ketchup, cheeses, sweetcorn, dried and fresh apples and other fruits.
The list now comprises 54 agricultural products and 45 manufactured products.
Tariffs run as high as 45 percent on some items, a big handicap for U.S. business that can be undercut by competitors in other countries that don’t face the added costs."

In other words Mexico was punishing us for ending the trial program and not following thru on the initial NAFTA agreement.

What Obama did was a compromise to get that tariff off our backs. Unfortunately it affected the Teamsters in a negative way.

[oladub]

Here's the back story and why Obama is doing this at the risk of upsetting the Teamsters

"What Obama did was a compromise to get that tariff off our backs. Unfortunately it affected the Teamsters in a negative way.

Candidate Obama promised to renegotiate NAFTA. Instead, he is using NAFTA as a hammer against not only truck drivers, but other Americans working in warehouses, truck maintenance, and offices associated with the trucking industry. There seems to be a pattern of Obama using international agreements to override Congress and the wishes of Americans. Congress is aware of these punitive import taxes. Executive orders are not supposed to override votes of Congress; in this case, those of Democrats who killed Bush's pilot program.

Mexico probably had a right to retaliate against the Congressional end to the pilot program. When Mexico decided to tighten the screws still further with additional tariffs, Obama rolled over siding with Mexico instead of US workers. He should have let Mexico know it had gone too far instead. "The Teamsters for two years have urged the administration to bring a challenge against Mexico for imposing excessive tariffs on U.S. goods." His submission to Mexican authorities and betrayal of US workers will only teach other nations how to get the most out of their agreements with the US.