IRU targets North American trucking priorities as trade deal revision looms

North America depends on efficient cross-border trucking. Following a leadership dialogue with CEOs and senior trucking leaders in Mexico City, IRU has been working to ensure that the Canada-Mexico-US trade agreement - known as USMCA in the US, CUSMA in Canada and TMEC in Mexico, and currently up for review - addresses border challenges and long-standing commitments to improve cross-border supply chain operations.

A central component of IRU's North American Transportation Forum (NATF) leadership dialogue earlier this year was a meeting with Luis Rosendo Gutierrez Romano, Mexico's Undersecretary of Foreign Trade. He outlined Mexico's priorities for the TMEC review. His message was clear: North America must preserve the strength of its integrated trade bloc.

The Undersecretary noted that the region represents around 30% of global manufacturing. He also said that 83% of Mexico's exports to the US currently face zero tariffs.

For Mexico, the goal is to avoid major changes to the agreement related to tariffs and time frames. NATF participants - representing the trucking industry from across the region - highlighted the need for efficient border clearance to avoid costly bottlenecks.

Undersecretary Gutierrez proposed creating a working group, coordinated by NATF, once a diagnostic assessment of conditions at ports of entry had been completed.