Mexican truck drivers blocked bridges at the US-Mexico border for a second day on Tuesday, protesting a Texas governor’s order to enhance safety checks, which has delayed traffic and caused supply chain delays, according to business groups.
Mexico’s government stated in a statement that it ‘rejects’ the Texas inspections, saying that two-thirds of regular trade is being slowed, costing both US and Mexican enterprises ‘substantial revenue.’
Last Monday, Abbott, a Republican, ordered officials to undertake vehicle safety inspections at entrance ports in order to identify people and contraband smuggling.
Raymundo Galicia, a Mexican trucker protesting at the Santa Teresa bridge connecting San Jeronimo, Chihuahua, and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, said, ‘It took me 17 hours to cross into the United States and back yesterday.’
The bridge is the third in the busy Ciudad Juarez-El Paso corridor to be shut down by drivers whose pay has been cut since long lines began last week.
According to photos given to Reuters, traffic at a fourth bridge connecting Reynosa and Pharr, Texas, was also blocked on Tuesday by drivers who parked their trucks and began barbecuing on the Mexican side of the port of entry.
‘This plan will destroy an economy that relies so heavily on cross-border trade,’ said U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district covers most of El Paso.
The National Chamber of Freight Transportation of Mexico claimed that delays at the Pharr bridge alone cost the country $8 million per day, and urged Abbott to revoke the order to avoid a ‘collapse in international cross-border trade.’
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