ATA president praises Bush administration for NAFTA compromise

Nov 29, 2001 12:00 PM

The American Trucking Associations has praised the Bush administration and congressional leaders for their success in negotiating a compromise agreement on highway safety issues that had threatened implementation of the trucking provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"This is great news for the American trucking industry and our ATA motor carriers," said ATA President and CEO William Canary. "It gives us the open borders we need to freely do our job of moving freight and helping to rebuild the U.S. economy. It maintains the safety requirements that we have insisted on all along, that trucks entering the U.S. from Mexico must meet the same safety standards that we do. We commend the Bush administration and the Congress for coming to this agreement."

According to the ATA, 84 percent of goods moved between the United States and Mexico are moved by truck, likewise for 73 percent of the goods moved between the US and Canada.