Arizona border officials want Mexico trade lanes reopened
Cross-border operators in Arizona are calling on federal authorities to return customs personnel to their posts on the Nogales-Mariposa port of entry and reopen trade lanes which were closed for over two weeks.
“These policies that the Department of Homeland Security [is] implementing are severely affecting the best way our country should operate on the Southern border with legal trade and legal traffic that must be crossing each day,” Joshua Rubin, vp of business development at Javid LLC, told FreightWaves.
Javid is a Nogales, Mexico-based shelter company that helps manufacturers set-up operations in Mexico. Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico, are sister cities along the border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents who would normally help process industrial cargo trucks are being shifted to immigration duties to handle the inflow of migrants at Mexico ports of entry.
The result has been a slowing of cargo processing of trucks arriving in Nogales from Mexico, Rubin said.
“What we try to specific to [federal authorities] is that we’re moving into produce season and we’re moving into the vacation season; we’re moving into the time of 12 months that makes our economic relationship with Mexico … essentially the most lucrative opportunity that we’ve got here within the border community,” Rubin said. “On Monday, I had 18 shipments that I couldn’t get across the border due to the reduction of CBP personnel. I actually have a broker friend that told me he had 25 shipments that he was not in a position to get across on Monday, and had to attend one other day to cross.”
CBP officials said they’ve been working to “decompress” the migrant situation along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We remain vigilant and expect to see fluctuations, knowing that smugglers proceed to make use of misinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals,” a CBP spokesperson said in an email to FreightWaves. “CBP is executing our operational plans and dealing to decompress areas along the Southwest border. We’re safely and efficiently vetting and processing migrants to position them in immigration enforcement proceedings consistent with our laws and operational planning efforts.”
CBP’s Tucson Field Office, which incorporates the Nogales-Mariposa port of entry, has been temporarily supporting the Tucson and Yuma Border Patrol sectors with processing migrants at various facilities, CBP officials said.
“The support will proceed on an as needed basis and CBP will work to return to normal operations as quickly as feasible,” the CBP spokesperson said. “The Tucson Office of Field Operations will assist the Border Patrol in processing migrants who’ve arrived between the ports of entry. These efforts will focus totally on vulnerable populations to incorporate families and unaccompanied children. CBP often plans for and executes contingency measures, resembling this, to support the overarching agency mission and ensure the security and wellbeing of those within the agency’s custody.”
The Nogales-Mariposa port of entry has eight industrial vehicle inspection lanes and is the biggest U.S. entry point for fresh produce from Mexico, representing about 45% of the fresh produce consumed within the U.S. through the winter months.
In 2022, the port of entry facilitated $21.6 billion in U.S.-Mexico trade, in line with the University of Arizona.
The Nogales-Mariposa port of entry currently has two general cargo lanes and two Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program lanes open. As of Friday, cargo wait times for the overall cargo lanes were over 40 minutes. It was 10 minutes for the FAST lanes.
Together with those from Nogales, CBP personnel at bridges in El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, have been reassigned to handle the influx of migrants.
Cargo truck inspections at El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas and Bridge I in Eagle Pass have been suspended since Sept. 18.
The Bridge of the Americas is certainly one of two industrial U.S.-Mexico border crossings in El Paso, the opposite being the nearby Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge. While Bridge I on the Eagle Pass port of entry is closed, the port’s Bridge II, also often called the Camino Real Bridge, stays open with one lane for cargo trucks.
![](https://www.freightwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/29/Ysleta_El-Paso_wait-times.jpg)
Along with delays brought on by migrants, the ports in Eagle Pass and El Paso have needed to contend with renewed state-run truck inspections by the Texas Department of Public Safety that began Sept. 20, further disrupting trade flows between Mexico and the U.S.
On Friday, cargo truck wait times on the Ysleta-Zaragoza bridge were over five hours and 20 minutes in the overall industrial lanes and 4 and a half hours for vehicles permitted for the FAST program lanes.
The Camino Real Bridge in Eagle Pass had wait times of over three hours on Friday.
The Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, a bunch of personal and public trade stakeholders within the region, recently sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting that he reopen trade lanes and convey personnel back to Mexico ports of entry.
“We’d like to work with all our members of Congress to push and advocate that we’d like more Border Patrol, we’d like more CBP officers working on the ports to cope with issues which can be occurring,” said Rubin, vice chairman of the port authority. “The Department of Homeland Security … . why don’t we take CBP officers from the Canadian border, where less is occurring, to process and assist the Border Patrol in Arizona, Texas? No, they might somewhat take away agents from the Southern ports, relocate those officers which can be protecting the Southern border. Those are the opposite issues that we’re facing.”
Officials for the Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from FreightWaves.
Study finds ending US-Mexico tomato pact could raise prices by 50%
A brand new study from Arizona State University (ASU) said terminating the Tomato Suspension Agreement between the U.S. and Mexico could impact the economies of Arizona and Texas, while limiting options and raising prices for consumers.
The “Mexican Tomatoes: TSA-Tariff Evaluation Report,” led by Timothy J. Richards, ASU chair of agribusiness, evaluated the impact that terminating the Tomato Suspension Agreement could have on consumer prices, retail sales and economic activity in Arizona and Texas, states central to the tomato supply chain within the U.S.
The study was undertaken after the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) trade group requested in June that the Department of Commerce end the 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement with Mexico and place tariffs on imports of tomatoes from Mexico.
Tomatoes sold within the U.S. from Mexico are controlled by the U.S. Department of Commerce through the Tomato Suspension Agreement, which sets minimum pricing and regulates sales between growers and importers.
The FTE said Mexico-based growers proceed to dump tomatoes into the U.S. — selling them for lower than it costs to supply them — and alleges that the cheaper imports undercut the domestic market.
Key results of the ASU study include:
- Consumers could see tomato prices increase by a median of 52% if the agreement is terminated.
- Grocery retailers could see a $7.53 billion decrease in revenue consequently of termination of the agreement.
- In Arizona and Texas, economic activity could fall by $3.4 billion to $4.5 billion across sectors, with potential job losses of twenty-two,000 to 32,000.
Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Nogales, Arizona-based Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, said terminating the agreement “will cause significant economic damage.”
“The Tomato Suspension Agreement ensures that American consumers, firms and communities have access to fresh, healthy, high-quality tomatoes at a reasonable price,” Jungmeyer said in a press release.
A comment period is currently open on the Department of Commerce for the Tomato Suspension Agreement through Oct. 23. The Department of Commerce said it would make a choice based on the knowledge provided.
The FTE didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from FreightWaves.
Texas port receives $20M to fund rail infrastructure project
The Port of Victoria in southeast Texas announced it has received a grant to fund the primary phase of a rail infrastructure project at its Texas Logistics Center (TXLC).
The $20.3 million grant is from the Texas Department of Transportation, in collaboration with Victoria County and the Victoria Sales Tax Development Corp.
TXLC is a business park the port is developing as a regional logistics hub with access to rail, water and highway transportation.
Phase 1 of the rail project at TXLC will begin in 2024 and is scheduled for completion in 2025. It’s going to add over 42,000 feet of track, including the development of three 10,000-foot drop-and-pull tracks.
Subsequent phases will include storage tracks, transloading operations and connections to recent tenants. Upon completion, TXLC might be served by the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads.
![](https://www.freightwaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/29/Port-Victoria_Texas1-1200x675.jpg)
The Port of Victoria is a shallow-draft inland facility about 117 miles from San Antonio and 125 miles from Houston. The port’s 35-mile Victoria Barge Canal offers shippers access to the Intracoastal Waterway, in addition to rail and highway access to Houston, San Antonio and Austin.
Accurate Transport opens logistics hub in Houston
Transportation and logistics provider Accurate Transport recently opened a 33,000-square-foot terminal in Houston near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The power supports the Carlstadt, Latest Jersey-based company’s expanding operations across the U.S. and rising demand for freight operations within the Eastern parts of the country, in line with a news release.
“This investment reflects our deep commitment to the region and Texas market,” Chief Strategy Officer Jay Irons said in a press release.
Accurate Transport was founded in 1997 and has 78 trucks. The corporate provides services resembling local hauls, less-than-truckload, last mile, warehousing/3PL, intermodal, distribution and achievement, and drayage.
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