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On October 21, 2011, the first big-rig truck from Mexico crossed the border into Laredo, Texas, under a trucking program that was agreed to in NAFTA but that took 17 years to implement.

Nearly two decades after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the first Mexican truck ventured into the U.S. under provisions of the controversial treaty. With little fanfare, a white tractor trailer with Mexican license plates entered the courtyard of the Atlas Copco facility in Garland, Texas on Saturday afternoon to unload a Mexico-manufactured metal structure for drilling oil wells.

The delivery marked the first time that a truck from Mexico reached the U.S. interior under the 17-year-old trade agreement, which was supposed to give trucks from the neighboring countries access to highways on both sides of the border. The Obama administration signed an agreement with Mexico to end the long dispute over the NAFTA provision in July that also removes $2 billion in duties on American goods. “We were prepared for this a long time ago because we met the requirements and complied with the rules of cross-border transportation, which made us earn the trust of American companies,” said Gerardo Aguilar, a manager for “Transportes Olympic,” the only Mexican company authorized to operate its trucks in the U.S. The long-delayed door-to-door delivery was launched with a bi-national ceremony Friday to mark the truck’s crossing at the international bridge “World Trade” in Laredo, Tex., the entry point for 40 percent of products imported from Mexico.

Source: The Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/nearly-20-years-after-nafta-first-mexican-arrives-in-us-interior_n_1028630.html, First Posted: 10/24/11 06:08 PM ET Updated: 12/24/11 05:12 AM ET

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