Mexico is expected to lift tariffs on US imports it imposed when its northern neighbour abandoned a pilot cross-border trucking programme in 2009.
The US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has given a Mexican haulier, Transportes Olympic, permission to transport freight to US destinations and in return Mexican authorities are preparing to remove tariffs on US produce including apples, cherries, grapes, onions and oranges.
In July this year the Californian Table Grape Commission revealed that the imposition of a 45 per cent charge on fresh grapes corresponded with a 73 per cent decline in exports from more than US$61m in 2008 to US16m the following year.
The tariff was reduced to 20 per cent in August 2010 and was halved again this summer.
Once trucking starts – probably in a matter of days – the commission expects the import charge to be eliminated.
