WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is not expected to resolve the cross-border trucking dispute with Mexico this year, the Department of Transportation’s the undersecretary for policy said this week.

According to an article in Inside U.S. Trade, Roy Kienitz made the comments during a meeting with the Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs last week.

Kienitz told the group that the issue was out of the DOT’s hands and would have to be resolved by White House officials, who are occupied with Obama’s health care reform.

The dispute involves allowing Mexican trucks to haul cargo beyond the U.S. border’s 20-mile commercial restriction zone.

The Bush Administration’s year-long pilot project was axed by Congress after intense lobbying by U.S. labor unions, owner-operator and citizen advocacy groups who feared loss of U.S. jobs to Mexican drivers and argue that Mexican trucks will not be safe. 

Mexico retaliated by imposing penalty duties on $2.3 billion in imports from 89 products from the U.S.

The president promised to restore the cross border project in some form earlier this year. 

Many groups, including the Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs, are urging the government to resolve the situation, as a result of these retaliatory tariffs.

A new study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that by canceling the pilot program, the government caused $2.2 billion in higher costs for U.S. families and companies, $2.6 billion in lost U.S. exports, and more than 25,000 lost jobs for American workers.