2 days ago
$10B Trump-Approved ‘Green Corridors' Project to Drive Efficiency in US-Mexico Trade
The Trump administration has given the green light to a $10 billion infrastructure project designed to alleviate backups at the most heavily trafficked border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico.
The president this month signed a presidential permit for Austin, Tex.-based Green Corridors, a freight transportation provider intent on building a 165-mile elevated 'guideway' that will ferry automated, freight-laden shuttles between Laredo, Tex., and Monterrey, Mexico.
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According to the company, the Green Corridors Intelligent Freight Transportation System (GC-IFTS) will help reduce congestion by bypassing areas beset by gridlock—an issue that has had marked ramifications for shippers and importers.
In 2019, $2 billion in U.S.-Mexico GDP was sacrificed to shipment slowdowns, as truck wait times at the country's busiest commercial bridges can be lengthy. If the issue persists unaddressed, the losses could mount to more than $100 billion by 2050, the company estimated.
Tackling the problem will involve the construction of two cross-border terminals in Laredo and two in Monterrey, measuring around 100 acres apiece. Trailers will be moved via autonomous shuttles that run on both diesel and electricity and picked up by truckers at the end of the proverbial road to continue their journeys into the U.S. or Mexico.
The system will have both economical and ecological upsides, the company said. The freight shuttles' hybrid propulsion system reduces emissions by 75 percent compared to diesel trucking, while also substantially slashing the cost of moving freight compared to conventional options. The terminals, too, will be equipped with solar arrays, regenerative cranes and hybridized power, and automated operations will allow the the GC-IFTS to run 24/7.
Green Corridors' Intelligent Freight Transportation System will also promote stringent border security, the company said, as it scans all the freight entering the U.S., accelerating inspection times and integrating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) protocols. It also creates more separation between commercial freight and passenger vehicles.
Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) voiced his support for the effort and urged President Trump to sign the permit in a letter earlier this spring, underscoring the importance of the growing U.S.-Mexico trade relationship. In 2023, Mexico became the country's biggest trading partner, with the nations doing $798.9 billion in cross-border commerce.
'I am glad President Trump has approved the construction of the Green Corridors International Bridge facility, which will enhance efficiency and security at the Port of Laredo, our nation's top port of entry for international trade,' he said earlier this month.
The trade tensions between Mexico and the U.S. that simmered earlier this year seem to have mostly cooled.
Trump threatened the country with 25-percent across-the-board duties on all imports into the U.S. market, citing illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking as a reason to forgo the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which grants a wide variety of goods duty-free access to the American market. The country now faces 25-percent duties only on products that aren't covered by the trade agreement, along with tariffs on steel and aluminum. The president spared Mexico from his 'Liberation Day' reciprocal duties.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was slated to meet with Trump to discuss trade issues at the G7 Summit in Canada this week, but the plan was thwarted when the American Commander in Chief left the event early. Sheinbaum said she spoke with Trump by phone soon after and the two vowed to work together to reach an agreement on 'various issues' soon.
