[NYTr] 200 Mexican farmers block border with US to protest NAFTA

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Steven L. Robinson - activ-l

Xinhua - Jan 1, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/02/content_7351780.htm


Mexican farmers block border with U.S. to protest free trade accord

Mexico City -- Some 200 Mexican farmers blocked on Tuesday the
Cordoba-Americas bridge linking the country with the United States to
protest the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The farmers demand a revision of the agreement among Mexico and its
northern neighbor of the United States and Canada, which lifts tariffs
for U.S. and Canadian exports of corn, beans, sugar and milk powder.

The measure will damage Mexico's corn and bean farming, two basic food
for local people, said Victor Quintana, head of the Farmers' Democratic
Front that organized the protest.

The farmers closed the bridge that links Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and El
Paso in the U.S. state of Texas at 0:00 a.m. Tuesday (0700 GMT) and the
blockage was expected to last 13 hours, Quintana said.

Many farmers in the country believe the tariff lift will deal a fatal
blow to the already fragile agriculture in the country.

Following several years of negotiations, the United States, Canada and
Mexico agreed to launch a North American Free Trade Agreement in Jan.
1994.

The agreement will remove most barriers to trade and investment among
the countries. Under the NAFTA, all non-tariff barriers to agricultural
trade between the United States and Mexico were eliminated.

In addition, many tariffs were lifted immediately, with others being
phased out over periods of five to 15 years.

Corn, beans, sugar and milk were granted special 15-year import
protection when the NAFTA was negotiated in 1993, time that was
supposed to be used to prepare Mexico for competition. Tuesday should
be the end of the adjustment period.

Editor: Yao Siyan