Word: mexicanized
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...press has given the flare-up an ascending series of alarming descriptions: "a dispute that could lead to a trade war"; a "mini-trade war"; and the full, flaming "Obama's first trade war." This month's ban on Mexican truckers operating in U.S. territory quickly led to Mexico's imposing retaliatory tariffs on a wide range of American products. The speed with which the two governments have been willing to sacrifice free trade for a political spat has politicians and business lobbies south of the border increasingly worried about how well the fragile Mexican economy can survive the fracas...
...With the world economy being so unstable and the Mexican peso falling, it is crazy to get into this protectionist trade dispute now," says Representative Edmundo Ramirez of Mexico's former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party. "Our governments should be sitting down and negotiating solutions, not slapping on retaliatory measures." (See pictures of the Great Wall of America rising on the Mexican border...
...Wednesday and Thursday, was kicked off when President Barack Obama signed a spending bill on March 11. Embedded in the bill was a clause that prohibits funds from being used to "implement, continue, promote or in any way permit" a two-year-old pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to operate in the U.S. Pressure for the clause had come directly from the Teamsters, who have long opposed competition from the Mexican 18-wheelers on their turf, complaining that the foreign truckers don't meet U.S. safety standards...
Down in Mexico, the administration of President Felipe Calderón accused the U.S. of being hypocritical and protectionist. It has a strong case. Under NAFTA, Mexican trucks were meant to be roaming some U.S. roads in 1995 and the width and breadth of the whole country by 2000. However, successive U.S. administrations could not say no to Teamster complaints that Mexican trucks were not fit for the interstates. Finally, both sides agreed on the pilot program to break the deadlock...
However, while Mexicans are normally pleased to celebrate any chance to hit back against the imperialist gringos, there was little popular applause for the latest measures. As the world economy is suffering, the Mexican peso has lost about 40% of its value against the dollar in the past four months. That means higher prices for just about any product imaginable in the supermarkets and stores of Mexico, which imported $151 billion worth of goods from its northern neighbor last year. The new tariffs mean the prices will go up even further. "This will hit poor people, whatever the government says...