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December 6, 2000 11:00 AM, EST

Mexico won an important victory in its bid to force the U.S. to open its roads to Mexican truckers under the North American Free Trade Agreement when an arbitration panel issued a preliminary decision in Mexico’s favor.

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According to Mexican officials, the five-member panel supported its position that the U.S. was improperly preventing Mexican trucks from operating in the U.S. They said both sides have 14 days to issue comments on the Nov. 29 preliminary decision.

“The panel is ruling in Mexico’s favor unanimously,” Luis de la Calle, Mexico’s deputy trade minister, told Bloomberg News last week.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the report beyond saying “we are reviewing it,” but the Teamsters union — a major protagonist in the fight — blasted the decision and urged the Clinton administration to maintain the ban on Mexican trucks, no matter what the cost.

For the full story, see the Dec. 4 print edition of Transport Topics. .