U.S. makes deal to let in Mexico’s trucks

[trenchfoot]

"Free trade"........for who? Who does it really benefit? As usual, ya just got'ta follow the money and dog it through the hall of smoke and mirrors that the string pullers send and receive their $$$$ through to really know why these "free trade" agreements sail through to passage every single time.

 

[dmcowen674]

Seems that Obama has made yet another logical decision. If the truckers can be brought up to American standards, then it should not be a problem. This is much more efficient than transferring the load at the border.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2133355

The problem is the wages.

Mexican truck drivers get $4 hr.

Why would any company ever pay an American truck driver ever again?

 

[IronWing]

So the first truck brought in an oil derrick. Why can't we build our own derricks?

 

[Engineer]

I wanna see em try to deliver my package to hawaii... Tho what's next? Flying planes in from mexico and china? Ah well... I guess it really kinda fits the bill since have you seen those HUGE cargo ships that are made in china? Used to yes you guessed it delivery the billions of exported ipods and iphones from china.

What's next? Bringing in Chinese ships to Mexican ports and then using Mexican trucks to haul that shit to US cities. Elimination of California and other "US high dollar labor" ports. It's coming....just a matter of time.

 

[Thump553]

The only thing good about this idea is that it was stalled for roughly twenty years. Public safety going to go down and this will eliminate thousands of US jobs with absolutely no upside for us. The US is going to lose millions of jobs from this, not only the truck drivers (already a severely depressed industry but as Engineer mentioned, such diverse impacts as closing down our ports.

All so Walmart could get stuff a bit cheaper.

 

[Wreckem]

You're welcome.

NAFTA was a bipartisan effort by everyone and if you recall correctly the Democrats owned the House and Senate in 1992/1993/1994, they lost control of the house(but not the Senate) in 1995.

It passed the House and Senate in Nov. 1993, signed in Dec. 1993. You seem to think GHWB is to blame. Hes partly to blame, but everyone else is too. In addition the NAFTA bill would have never of passed the way it was left by GHWB. Clinton renegotiated part of it to get it ratified by Congress.

The US should have backed out of NAFTA, instead we just violated the agreement for 18 years.

 

[Wreckem]

What's next? Bringing in Chinese ships to Mexican ports and then using Mexican trucks to haul that shit to US cities. Elimination of California and other "US high dollar labor" ports. It's coming....just a matter of time.

Mexico will never have enough ports or big enough ports to do that. Nor will they ever have the infastructure to support such ports.

The west coast ports already aren't big enough to handle the entire tonnage that comes into the US via the west coast. Mexico has been wanting to build the third largest port in the world, but I still doubt it will ever happen. Hell the west coast ports are actully lobbying Mexico to build it to relieve the over congestion and maxed out infastructure on the west coast(most notably the California ports). Even if they ever did build the third largest port, its tonnage would still be small a fraction of tonnage coming into the US.

 

[Engineer]

NAFTA was a bipartisan effort by everyone and if you recall correctly the Democrats owned the House and Senate in 1992/1993/1994, they lost control of the house(but not the Senate) in 1995.

It passed the House and Senate in Nov. 1993, signed in Dec. 1993. You seem to think GHWB is to blame. Hes partly to blame, but everyone else is too. In addition the NAFTA bill would have never of passed the way it was left by GHWB. Clinton renegotiated part of it to get it ratified by Congress.

The US should have backed out of NAFTA, instead we just violated the agreement for 18 years.

I don't see where he placed full blame on GWHB...he simply pointed out that Clinton alone did not pass this. With 34 Reps. and 27 Dems. voting for it, pretty close to being even with a very large majority of the GOP voting for it. Regardless, the lower and lower middle have been screwed by it ever since then and the effects are creeping up the ladder to the rest of us...ever so slowly. Foundation first....rest of building to follow.

By the way, how many of you have ever driven (or rode with someone) in Mexico? Their driving "habits" and "skills" leave lots to be desired. Also, shouldn't their drivers be required to have a CDL since our drivers are also required to have one to drive here?

 

[Thump553]

Seems that Obama has made yet another logical decision. If the truckers can be brought up to American standards, then it should not be a problem. This is much more efficient than transferring the load at the border.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2133355

Yeah, because unhitching a trailer and hooking up a US rig to it takes what, five minutes? After all, the things are designed that way.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

So the manufacturing in this country is gone. Ok fine, we've given up, it's not coming back. We'll stick to service jobs. Then they start shifting service jobs that don't need to be physically located in the US, to overseas locations. Call centers, tech support, etc. Ok those are shitty jobs anyway, fine Wall Street, whatever. Then they start shifting more skilled work overseas, engineering and design. Ok this is getting ridiculous... Oh wait, what's this? Work that by its very nature MUST be performed INSIDE the US, by (relatively) unskilled labor that doesn't require a degree? Oh, well let's let that be done by MEXICAN DRIVERS from MEXICAN COMPANIES.

What the fuck is wrong with this country? What happened to US companies wanting US protectionism? What happened to US companies wanting to be a part of creating a strong country rather than just padding the bottom line? All of these great "US" companies that lobby for free trade are talking out of both sides of their mouth. They wave American flags and support the troops and remember 9/11 and profess love for the country while simultaneously tearing it apart.

And clearly the answer is to make the US proper as hostile a place for businesses to operate via the passage of even more governmental regulations, mandates, taxes, fees, etc along with blocking any attempts to induce companies to repatriate their overseas profits by lowering the corporate tax rate.

/rolleyes

 

[Triumph]

And clearly the answer is to make the US proper as hostile a place for businesses to operate via the passage of even more governmental regulations, mandates, taxes, fees, etc along with blocking any attempts to induce companies to repatriate their overseas profits by lowering the corporate tax rate.

/rolleyes

Yet another slave to the corporate brainwashing.

 

[waggy]

So the manufacturing in this country is gone. Ok fine, we've given up, it's not coming back. We'll stick to service jobs. Then they start shifting service jobs that don't need to be physically located in the US, to overseas locations. Call centers, tech support, etc. Ok those are shitty jobs anyway, fine Wall Street, whatever. Then they start shifting more skilled work overseas, engineering and design. Ok this is getting ridiculous... Oh wait, what's this? Work that by its very nature MUST be performed INSIDE the US, by (relatively) unskilled labor that doesn't require a degree? Oh, well let's let that be done by MEXICAN DRIVERS from MEXICAN COMPANIES.

What the fuck is wrong with this country? What happened to US companies wanting US protectionism? What happened to US companies wanting to be a part of creating a strong country rather than just padding the bottom line? All of these great "US" companies that lobby for free trade are talking out of both sides of their mouth. They wave American flags and support the troops and remember 9/11 and profess love for the country while simultaneously tearing it apart.

and its funny. people are bitching about jobs and the government does something to reduce the job market.

 

[Engineer]

and its funny. people are bitching about jobs and the government does something to reduce the job market.

This was done in 1994 and resisted up until this point. It was 2 billion in tariffs from the Mexican government that finally sent it forward. As far as I'm concerned, repeal them all (so called free trade agreements). The only problem with that is that it would take a generation for us to re-learn how to make our own stuff since we have offshored not only the factories but the know-how as well.

 

[Schadenfroh]

This was done in 1994 and resisted up until this point. It was 2 billion in tariffs from the Mexican government that finally sent it forward. As far as I'm concerned, repeal them all (so called free trade agreements). The only problem with that is that it would take a generation for us to re-learn how to make our own stuff since we have offshored not only the factories but the know-how as well.

Free trade makes sense with countries that are similar in labor costs and consumer mentality.

For example, the US and Canada are natural trading partners, free trade, free travel and even a currency (eventually a political) union between the US and Canada makes perfect sense.

Certain countries have a population that has an aversion to goods made by a foreign country, like Japan. While their labor costs are similar, we should not have free-trade because their consumers prefer domestic brands over foreign brands even if the price is cheaper.

 

[Zebo]

Mucho grasseyass UPS driver for my delivery....
My iPhone was made in China. Delivered by Mexico. To my house owned by Wall Street greed.

Haha Nice.

 

[wirednuts]

so people still think that presidents really have power? theyre all puppets, 100%. the people working underneath them are the bosses, the ones who dont get elected or term out... even if we did elect a grassroots president and he tried to replace all the fatcats in washington they would just find a way to impeach or kill him. otherwise, a democrat or republican is the same exact thing. just pretty dolls, nothing more.

 

[sleep]

agree^

 

[K1052]

Mexico will never have enough ports or big enough ports to do that. Nor will they ever have the infastructure to support such ports.

The west coast ports already aren't big enough to handle the entire tonnage that comes into the US via the west coast. Mexico has been wanting to build the third largest port in the world, but I still doubt it will ever happen. Hell the west coast ports are actully lobbying Mexico to build it to relieve the over congestion and maxed out infastructure on the west coast(most notably the California ports). Even if they ever did build the third largest port, its tonnage would still be small a fraction of tonnage coming into the US.

The Panama Canal expansion is expected to come online by 2015. I think it's unlikely that the Mexicans or Chinese will invest in Pacific ports which by the time they're built be mostly useless. Al lot of shipping will just go to either ports in the southern US or the east coast direct.

 

[Wreckem]

The Panama Canal expansion is expected to come online by 2015. I think it's unlikely that the Mexicans or Chinese will invest in Pacific ports which by the time they're built be mostly useless. Al lot of shipping will just go to either ports in the southern US or the east coast direct.

Its been proposed since 2009. I never see it happening because they don't have the infastructure or money to build everything the need to build.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

And clearly the answer is to make the US proper as hostile a place for businesses to operate via the passage of even more governmental regulations, mandates, taxes, fees, etc along with blocking any attempts to induce companies to repatriate their overseas profits by lowering the corporate tax rate.

/rolleyes

Yet another slave to the corporate brainwashing.

Yes because being belligerent and hostile toward private enterprise is a sure fire and bang up way to promote growth and expansion in the US vs creating a environment that seeks to be business friendly. However if your views are in line with communist despots like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, etc the later may seem slightly more attractive in its appeal to the masses.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Free trade makes sense with countries that are similar in labor costs and consumer mentality.

For example, the US and Canada are natural trading partners, free trade, free travel and even a currency (eventually a political) union between the US and Canada makes perfect sense.

Certain countries have a population that has an aversion to goods made by a foreign country, like Japan. While their labor costs are similar, we should not have free-trade because their consumers prefer domestic brands over foreign brands even if the price is cheaper.

This +1

Free trade works with nations of similar wages (maybe slightly lower or maybe slightly higher) and whom are almost on par with their standard of living. What does not work is opening up your labor markets to impoverished 3rd world nations or 2nd world nations like China who are predatory in their trade dealings and currency manipulation. Maybe it is time we revoke the "Favored trading partner" status awarded to China by Clinton.

 

[K1052]

Its been proposed since 2009. I never see it happening because they don't have the infastructure or money to build everything the need to build.

The Panamanian government already approved the project and bonded it out. Construction has started.

 

[Engineer]

Free trade makes sense with countries that are similar in labor costs and consumer mentality.

That's "FAIR" trade, not the so called free trade bullshit that we now have. We need "FAIR" trade (as I've said for years), not bullshit slave wage, currency manipulated trade we have now.

 

[Triumph]

Yes because being belligerent and hostile toward private enterprise is a sure fire and bang up way to promote growth and expansion in the US vs creating a environment that seeks to be business friendly. However if your views are in line with communist despots like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, etc the later may seem slightly more attractive in its appeal to the masses.

"Free" trade is what ships jobs overseas, are you reading the same thread that I am? Trucking MUST BE DONE IN THE US, and even then, companies are trying to get foreign workers to do it. Whose side do you think they're on? Yours? Americas?

 

[Engineer]

"Free" trade is what ships jobs overseas, are you reading the same thread that I am? Trucking MUST BE DONE IN THE US, and even then, companies are trying to get foreign workers to do it. Whose side do you think they're on? Yours? Americas?

and to add to that, which do you think will happen:

A. Consumers will get lower prices from the lower wages of Mexican truck drivers.

B. Corporations will simply add to the bottom line and pile even more cash into their vaults.

Raises hand....

B....B.....B.......B........B.........B

and to add to that, they will raise prices just as much as ever, you can count on it.