America's Auto Rejects Revived and Resold in Mexico Monica Ortiz Uribe - Fronteras Desk
go to original July 9, 2016

American Auto Rejects Line Up at Mexican Border (Fronteras Desk)
 

Mexico is making it harder to import used cars from the U.S., angering hundreds of importers along the border whose livelihoods depend the revival and resale of America's four-wheeled rejects.

On a recent morning, a sorry parade of banged up cars idled bumper to bumper near a remote border crossing outside El Paso. Hundreds of them lined up farther than the eye could see. Some had smashed windshields and missing headlights, others had dented hoods held shut by bungie cords. All were waiting to cross into Mexico.

"I've been waiting five days to import those two cars," said auto importer Gerardo Roman.

He and other importers said Mexican customs agents abruptly reduced their hours and the number of cars they let through beginning in mid-June. This move has stalled an entire economic sector that's long thrived across the border. In the last decade Mexico received more than 7 million used cars from the U.S.

The backlog of these clunkers at ports of entry in California and Texas has sparked chaos. Last month in Ciudad Juárez an angry group of import salesmen blocked commercial traffic coming into Mexico for several hours. At a border crossing south of San Diego, the Tijuana Chamber of Commerce counted as many as 4,000 cars waiting to be imported.

"Customs is strangling commerce at the border for arbitrary reasons," said Eloisa Talavera, a Congresswoman from Baja California.

The head of Mexico's customs agency was quoted in Mexico's Universal newspaper this week saying that the agency was cracking down on illegal imports — cars with values that are deliberately underestimated to evade taxes or cars with fake emissions reports.

The Fronteras Desk reached out multiple times to Mexican customs but didn't get a response as to why the agency had reduced its hours and number of imports at the border, a move that's negatively impacted those who do business legally.

Importers suspect customs is caving into pressure from Mexico’s domestic auto manufacturing industry. In Mexico, new car sales lag behind used car sales.

Read the rest at Fronteras Desk

Related: Mexico Auto Output, Exports Rise in June (Automotive News)

Related: Examining the Black Market for Stolen Wheels (MyFoxZone)

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