Free-Market Moves for Mexican, U.S. Truckers Delayed : Trade: Postponement of implementation of NAFTA provision pleases labor but outrages trucking industry.

In a move that pleased labor groups, outraged the U.S. trucking industry and upset the Mexican government, the Clinton administration on Monday postponed implementation of new trade provisions that were to give U.S. and Mexican truckers greater access to each other’s turf.

On the day that border barriers to trucking were to have come down, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena said the new rule will be shelved indefinitely until he and his counterpart in the Mexican government can hold consultations to “further improve safety and security measures.”

The last-minute move was hailed as a victory by the Teamsters union and other groups that opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement clause giving Mexican truckers access to four border states, saying it would cost U.S. truckers their jobs and pose safety hazards for drivers and residents.

But a statement issued late Monday by Mexico’s secretary of communication and transport reflected its displeasure and its belief that major issues had been resolved. The statement noted that NAFTA signatories have met for two years to come up with norms that have been published in manuals available to all parties.

Ending the statement on a defiant note, the government also said it will take all “necessary action to arrive at a nondiscriminatory and reciprocal agreement” for its investors and transportation firms.

Trucking industry groups said the Clinton administration was caving in to labor “at the 11th hour” to curry votes for the upcoming presidential election. The 500,000-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a consistent NAFTA opponent, filed suit last week in federal court in Washington to block the trucking provision.

Monday was to have been the first day U.S. trucks could venture into the six Mexican states along the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican trucks were to have been admitted throughout Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, far beyond the 15-mile penetration range that Mexican trucks are now given.

Trucks would have to meet the other country’s safety, environmental and insurance standards and apply for formal permits to cross.

The trucking provision was a part of NAFTA, the bill signed two years ago designed to gradually eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers among the United States, Canada and Mexico. By 2000, the bill will give truckers from all three countries access to roads throughout North America.

Over the last 18 months, trucking and government officials from the U.S. and Mexico and the adjoining states have held numerous meetings with cross-border counterparts to hash out the practical applications of the NAFTA clause.

The process has been bumpy. California and Texas officials have expressed doubt that their border inspection stations were properly staffed and equipped to handle a significant increase in traffic in either direction that the clause might generate. They complained that the federal government had left too much enforcement and funding responsibility to them.

Both U.S. and Mexican federal governments have expressed reservations about the law. Mexico was initially resistant to allowing in the 53-foot tractor-trailer vans hauled by U.S. truckers, and U.S. officials expressed concerns about pollution standards and the training of drivers in Mexico.

Still, general agreement had been reached and Monday’s deadline had been in place for 18 months. So it came as a surprise Monday morning when Pena said further binational meetings were needed.

In the meantime, permit applications will be taken from Mexican trucking firms but not approved until after those consultations are completed, Pena said. He was not specific about which provisions are at issue, but he said the delay does not represent a setback for NAFTA.

Pena also didn’t say how much more time might be needed to complete the consultations, but U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor estimated 45 days.

Pena denied that the postponement was spurred by the Teamsters’ lawsuit. But American Trucking Assns. President Thomas J. Donahue said the delay was merely “election-year politics.”

“I was absolutely astounded that the White House would change their position at this point after all this time and all this preparation and all the investments that the governments and companies had made on both sides of the border,” Donahue said.

The Teamsters, which raised the specter of Mexican truckers hauling loads of toxic waste and other hazardous materials into the United States because of inadequate border inspections, called the postponement a “temporary victory for highway safety.”

Staff writer James Gerstenzang in Washington contributed to this report.