Editorial

Congress and the Obama administration have thrown many Western U.S. farmers under the truck -- literally.

They have continued to ignore a portion of the North American Free Tree Agreement that required the U.S. to allow Mexico-licensed trucks into the U.S. NAFTA required that 15 years ago, but only an 18-month "pilot program" was put into effect. When it expired in 2009, Mexico levied tariffs on 89 crops and products, mostly agricultural.

After Congress and the administration continued to ignore their obligations under NAFTA, Mexico's government last week upped the ante, adding more products to the tariff list. Of the $2.4 billion in U.S. products on Mexico's latest hit list, 54 are farm-related.

Congress and the Obama administration knew Mexico's leaders were going to do this. Time and again, they had said they were losing patience with the U.S. In turn, the administration knew tariffs are Mexico's weapon of choice when dealing with the U.S.

The result is 20 to 25 percent tariffs on fresh cheeses and 20 percent tariffs on apples, Christmas trees, almonds, pistachios, dates, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, pears, apricots, cherries, strawberries, peanuts, peas, wine, ketchup, soy sauce and fruit and vegetable juices.

The Obama administration's reason for disallowing Mexican trucks in the U.S. was "safety" concerns. This is in spite of the fact that any vehicles using U.S. roads have to meet U.S. standards.

It appears the real reason is the Democrat-controlled Congress wants to keep the Teamsters Union happy. This is, after all, an election year, and union contributions amount to big money for Democratic campaigns. During the 2010 election cycle, Teamster-affiliated groups have given $1.7 million to Democrats and $38,000 to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets.org, an independent organization that tracks political contributions and Federal Election Commission filings.

No wonder Democrats want to keep the union happy. In a year when that party faces challenges in both houses of Congress that could cost it the majority, every little bit helps.

The problem with that, of course, is that farmers and ranchers will pay the price of keeping the truckers happy. The hefty tariffs, on top of other restrictions U.S. producers face, amount to an election tax to benefit Democrats.

U.S. growers have worked hard over the years to open Mexico's door to U.S. crops and keep them open. This is difficult to do under the best of circumstances.

It's bad enough when your trade partners are balky, but in this case the problem was a Congress and an administration that put the wants of truckers ahead of the needs of agriculture and other industries.

The administration may have made the U.S. trucking industry and the Teamsters happy, but it did real damage to farmers, who depend greatly on trade with Mexico.

For an administration that says it wants to increase foreign trade, allowing such an event to occur is counter-productive or short-sighted, or both.

They may win the election but the agricultural economy will lose.