JONES APPLAUDS TRUMP ON NAFTA RENEGOTIATION; CALLS FOR END TO SPECIAL ACCESS FOR MEXICAN TRUCKS

Source: House Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC, 3rd)

Washington, D.C. - September 12, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) applauded President Donald J. Trump for his initiative to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and bring jobs back to America. As the Trump administration negotiates with Mexico and Canada this month, Congressman Jones is urging them to demand an end to the unfair special access to U.S. highways given to Mexican long-haul trucks in the original NAFTA agreement negotiated by President Bill Clinton.

“Ross Perot was right,” said Congressman Jones. “That ‘giant sucking sound’ we’ve heard has been the jobs of thousands of hard-working Americans going south to Mexico. It is unacceptable, and it is refreshing to have a president stand up for American workers instead of selling them out.”

In a letter sent today to America’s chief NAFTA negotiator, United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, Jones continued: “This administration has an incredible opportunity to right so many wrongs embedded in NAFTA. I know you are working hard to address those problems, and I would like to draw your attention to one in particular.”

“At the end of the original NAFTA negotiations, President Clinton and his team caved in to a demand from Mexico to allow Mexican long-haul trucks and Mexican drivers to cross the border and freely operate on American highways. That was a slap in the face. It permitted Mexican carriers, whose safety has never been certified as meeting U.S. standards, to take work away from law-abiding American truckers and to put the safety of American motorists on our highways at risk.”

“As you fight to level the playing field with Mexico, a good place start would be to close American highways to the Mexican truck fleet. American truck drivers do not want reciprocal access to Mexican highways, so no special treatment should be given in the other direction.”

President Trump started the process of renegotiating NAFTA by sending Congress a statutorily required 90-day notification on May 18, 2017. Negotiations began on August 16, 2017. The second round of talks concluded in Mexico earlier this month. The third round is expected to begin on September 23 in Ottawa, Canada.