29 April 2009

U.S.-Mexico Trade Proceeds Despite Swine Flu

The following is excerpted from the 28 April 2009 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

Trade moving by truck over the U.S.-Mexican border is so far unaffected by the Swine flu crisis emerging in the two countries.

“Right now no specific restrictions at the ports of entry at the land borders” between Mexico and the United States, said Martin D. Rojas, Executive Director for Safety, Security and Operations at the American Trucking Associations, speaking on an international trade panel in Washington, D.C. April 28.

“Customs said it’s business as usual so far, but if it reaches level five there could be some concern on commercial travel. I’m not sure what the next steps will be, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Reviving the U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking program, the topic of the panel discussion, may take a back seat while the two countries address the swine flu outbreak….

The outbreak could soon rattle supply chains across the globe, according to Adrian Gonzalez, head of the ARC Advisory Group’s logistics executive council, writing on the consultancy’s Logistics Viewpoints blog.

“Considering that Mexico is the United States’ second largest trading partner, I expect this outbreak to affect many other products and supply chains if the situation in Mexico worsens. If your supply chain team is not holding an emergency meeting this morning … to analyze this risk and its potential impact … you are setting yourself up for potential hardships in the days and weeks ahead.”