The Guardian by Carlos Sanchez 11/1/2021
A Mexican highway that connects with Texas ports of entry might be an alternative to California water ports An unusual event marking what organizers called “the start of the produce season” was recently held on the US side of an international port of entry connecting Mexico with Pharr, Texas. It was a different kind of ribbon-cutting ceremony, in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered beneath a large tent leading to the bridge connecting the United States and Mexico.
Local dignitaries from both sides of the border were given a fruit or vegetable imported from Mexico and asked to cut it, which they dutifully did to the delight of the crowd. Then came the free-for-all. The crowd was given bags and told to take what they wanted from a carefully staged backdrop of every type of fruit and vegetable that comes through this region. While this quaint tradition has been a mainstay of the region for years, this year may make the event more significant, asthe United States struggles with supply chain problems in the wake of the pandemic.
That’s because the produce-importing capacity of this landlocked port of entry could provide a solution that would help alleviate the problems that have been created by the backlog of ships waiting to offload cargo at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which account for 40% of all shipping containers entering the US. When President Biden recently announced that the Los Angeles port would stay open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to alleviate the backlog, a total of 64 ships were berthed at the two ports and an additional 80 were parked in the Pacific waiting their turn to unload.
Experts are already predicting a Christmas shortage of certain goods, particularly those coming from Asia.
What does Mexican produce coming through a landlocked south Texas port have to do with this backlog? It may be the key to developing a new trade route that avoids California and uses Mexican ports to get into the US via south Texas. It may even show the potential for a new mode of transportation that could alleviate growing traffic problems on our nation’s highways.
The key is the newly remodeled Mexican Federal Highway 40, or the Carretera Interoceánica (Interoceanic Highway). This is a road that runs from near the Port of Mazatlán on the Pacific coast to Reynosa, Mexico, just across the border from several cities in south Texas and is connected by several ports of entry, including the Pharr International Bridge.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/01/south-texas-mexico-us-supply-chain
