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Oct 1, 2001 12:00 PM

If the United States won't fully open its border to Mexican trucks, Mexico President Vicente Fox says he will close his nation to US trucks.

Fox said in an interview with The Washington Post he doesn't think truck safety or what President Bush called an “anti-Hispanic” attitude being taken by lawmakers is the problem; instead, it is a lack of attention to the issue.

“But in the meantime, what is not fair is that we don't have respect to something that was agreed upon, that is signed, and that by now it should be implemented,” Fox told the newspaper, adding that Bush and his administration are trying their best to comply with the commitments built up by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The US Senate in August approved the transportation appropriations bill, which includes 22 new safety provisions Mexican trucks will have to meet before being permitted to travel in the United States. The provisions approved by the Senate are tougher than those approved by Congress in July and could stall Bush's plan to give Mexican trucks full access to US highways by Jan 1, 2002.

US Transportation Secretary Norman Y Mineta recently said that 23% of Mexican trucks entering California have failed inspections, a figure comparable with the failure rate shown by US trucks.