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201 W. Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53703
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Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 7970
Madison, WI 53707-7970

Office of Governor
Scott Walker
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IMPORTANT: As of July 1st, 2011, functions once performed by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce have been moved to other state agencies and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The former Commerce web site will continue to exist for the next several months as resources are moved to new web site locations. We will make every attempt possible to direct our users to the new locations as web resources are moved.

Division of Investment and Export
PO Box 7970
Madison, WI 53707-7970
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Vol. 8 #4, March 2009

Mexico Raises Tariffs in NAFTA Dispute
On March 18, the Mexican government announced higher tariff rates would be applied to 90 product categories imported from the United States effective March 19.  The Mexican government estimated the value of the affected product categories to be at $2.4 billion.  Click here for the list of product categories by tariff classification code.  The higher tariffs, ranging from 10 to 45 percent, are in apparent retaliation to the U.S. decision to cancel a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to transport goods within the United States.  The pilot program was established in 2007, but the recent budget bill eliminated it.  The United States agreed to allow Mexican trucks to start using U.S. highways by 1995 when it signed the NAFTA pact with Canada and Mexico three years earlier.  Until the pilot program was initiated, Mexican trucks were confined to border zones where they had to offload goods to be carried by U.S. trucking companies.

The Obama administration, without a confirmed Commerce Secretary in place, nor having named a U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, is facing its first serious trade dispute.  President Obama has stated he will work to put in place new legislation allowing the pilot program to move forward, and has directed the Department of Transportation, the State Department, and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to coordinate the effort.

Mexico is Wisconsin’s second largest export market, after Canada.  Exports to Mexico in 2008 were $1.8 billion, up 19 percent from 2007.