An Analysis of an Alliance: NAFTA Trucking and the US Insurance Industry

In the NAFTA, the United States agreed to phase out restrictions on the operation of Mexican trucking companies in the United States. When the deadlines came, the Clinton Administration chose to maintain the restrictions. Following a NAFTA panel ruling against the United States, the Bush Administration announced it would remove the restrictions. The decision has met with opposition from both truckers and insurers in the United States, who cite safety concerns. This article examines the economic, political and legal forces at work in this debate, as well as the relationship between the NAFTA and WTO rules on trade in services that apply.