U.S. officials claim the right to suspend parts of the treaty, citing safety or health concerns. Mexico has filed a complaint charging a violation of the accords.

Teamsters president James Hoffa has made opposition to the provision a key effort of the union, trying to draw union members into a protectionist campaign. Patrick Buchanan, Reform Party presidential candidate and ultrarightist politician, championed the Teamster official's "protect American jobs" scheme, posing as a defender of workers in the United States against a supposed low-wage threat from abroad. "An American truck driver can't work at a buck an hour the way they have to work in Mexico," he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. trucking companies continue to attack wages and working conditions, and stifle unionization drives.  
 
 
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