US fuel exports to Mexico by land halted by higher scrutiny, sources say
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - The Mexican government has halted U.S. fuel imports sent into the country by road, as it cracks down on illegal deals, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Trucks carrying gasoline and diesel to Mexico from the U.S. Gulf Coast refining hub are not being permitted to cross the Texas border as the Mexican government investigates import permits and steps up cargo inspections, one of the sources involved in such deliveries said.
here.
There was no timeline to resume the trucking trade, the sources said, adding that railway and waterborne deliveries of fuel to Mexico from the U.S. have not been impacted.
The sources requested anonymity as the matter is not public. The Mexican government and state-owned energy company Pemex did not respond to requests for comment.
Even though Mexico is a large crude oil producer, it imports much of its fuel requirements from the U.S. as Pemex struggles to efficiently refine the heavy sour Maya crude oil grade it pumps.
Mexico is the top buyer of U.S. fuel. U.S. oil and fuel exports to the country averaged around 35.66 million barrels per day in January, according to the latest available U.S. Energy Information Administration data.
The trading route has proven lucrative for fuel smugglers, pushing Mexico to establish a decree to combat illicit fuel trade in 2023. In recent months, Mexican authorities have seized a vessel and several fuel trucks for what they said were illegal cargos.
Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said on March 31 that federal authorities had seized a tanker in Tamaulipas that was carrying 10 million liters of diesel along with 192 containers and 29 vehicles to transport motor fuels as well as other vehicles.
On March 28, he said federal authorities had seized about 8 million liters of hydrocarbon products, containers and vehicles used to transport motor fuels and pumps in Baja California.
U.S. President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and drug trafficking has also increased scrutiny at the U.S.-Mexico border. Nearly 110,000 acres of federal land along the border were transferred to the U.S. Army to help prevent illegal immigration, the U.S. Interior Department said on Tuesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Stephen Miller meeting with ICE officials was the spark for LA protests and National Guard call-up: report
White House aide Stephen Miller has repeatedly branded the Los Angeles protests an 'insurrection' after fierce backlash to immigration raids. California 's leadership is now 'siding with insurrectionist mobs,' and Democratic officials are 'in open rebellion' against the government, according to Miller. But the far-right architect of Donald Trump's anti-immigration agenda appears to have himself lit the fuse, after reportedly rallying Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to 'just go out there and arrest illegal aliens.' Late last month, Miller pressed ICE officials to ramp up arrests after following short of the president's ambitions for record-breaking daily deportations, according to The Wall Street Journal. Federal law enforcement officers needed to 'just go out there and arrest illegal aliens,' Miller told top ICE officials, according to WSJ, citing people familiar with the meeting. Rather than develop a list of targets for arrest, Miller told agents to raid Home Depot parking lots and 7-Eleven convenience stores, the newspaper reported. Miller 'eviscerated everyone,' according to recent reporting from The Washington Examiner. ''You guys aren't doing a good job. You're horrible leaders,'' Miller reportedly said. 'He just ripped into everybody. He had nothing positive to say about anybody, shot morale down,' an official told the outlet. Miller also allegedly bet that he and a handful of agents could arrest 30 people in the streets of Washington, D.C. 'Who here thinks they can do it?' Miller reportedly said. Days later, on June 6, ICE agents descended on a Home Depot in the predominantly Latino Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles — kicking off a weekend of protests centered around a federal detention center in the city's downtown and in the nearby Paramount and Compton neighborhoods. The next morning, Border Patrol agents gathered in a gated industrial office park in Paramount, while word spread on social media that raids were imminent at another nearby Home Depot. Trump later signed a presidential memorandum deploying 'at least' 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, with U.S. Marines standing by, despite objections from Governor Gavin Newsom, who joined officials and other critics sounding the alarm that the administration is needlessly escalating unrest. Miller and Newsom have spent several days trading blows over X. In response to Newsom's renewed lawsuit calling on a federal judge to block the 'unnecessary militarization' of Los Angeles, Miller accused the governor of saying that ICE officers must withdraw from the state if they 'don't want to get assaulted or worse by insurrectionist migrant mobs.' 'The Governor's position is that Stephen Miller has no peer when it comes to creating bulls****, strawmen arguments,' Newsom's office replied. The Independent has requested comment from the White House. Miller — who is from nearby Santa Monica — routinely characterizes the city and greater Los Angeles area as a 'third-world nation' overrun by immigrants. 'A ruptured, balkanized society of strangers,' he said this week. 'Los Angeles is all the proof you need that mass migration unravels societies,' Miller said. 'You can have all the other plans and budgets you want. If you don't fix migration, then nothing else can be fixed — or saved.' In recent days, he has repeatedly accused state officials of criminal activity for supporting immigrant communities, claiming that the entire state has 'aided, abetted and conspired to facilitate the invasion of the United States' and is now supporting a 'violent rebellion' against the federal government. 'Los Angeles and California are demanding the nullification of the election results, of federal law, of national sovereignty, and of the bedrock constitutional command of one national government,' Miller said. Trump appointed Miller as a senior policy adviser during his first term, where he emerged as an influential driving force behind the several key policies, including a ban on travel to the United States from majority Muslim countries and a 'zero tolerance' policy to separate migrant children from their parents or guardians. After an election fueled by Trump's pledge for the 'largest deportation operation in American history,' Miller has become a fierce proponent of the administration's agenda in media interviews and in volatile confrontations with reporters as the president advances a more robust anti-immigration campaign. Miller has also endorsed the concept of 'remigration,' or forcible removal of immigrants and their families that has taken hold among Europe's far-right parties and
Daily Mirror
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Donald Trump makes huge World War I blunder in fiery speech as LA riots rage
Donald Trump made a huge blunder about World War I in a fiery speech at Fort Bragg, as the U.S. continues to be rocked by riots over the President's mass deportation order US President Donald Trump delivered a speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday, as unrest continued in Los Angeles between protesters and ICE officials over his far-reaching deportation order. Fort Bragg, situated near Fayetteville, North Carolina, is home to the military's Special Operations Command, which includes elite units such as the Green Berets and Rangers. During his address, Trump made a significant historical blunder, claiming that many countries had recently commemorated the end of World War I, while the US did not participate in the celebrations, despite asserting "we're the ones who won the war." "Without us," Trump said, "You'd all be speaking German right now." "Maybe a little Japanese thrown in. But we won the war," he added. "We're gonna celebrate on Saturday." However, Trump's claim that citizens would have been speaking Japanese is inaccurate, as Japan was an ally of the US, France, Great Britain, Russia, and Italy against the Axis powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, reports the Mirror US. It appears the President was actually referencing WW2, which was commemorated recently during VE celebrations. The end of WW1 is traditionally commemorated on "Armistice Day" on November 11 each year. The event at Fort Bragg was also attended by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, and included both active service members and their families. The speech comes ahead of the 250th anniversary of the army and coincidentally, Trump's 79th birthday, which will be marked with a parade in Washington, D.C. The city is bracing for a massive turnout at the parade this Saturday, with officials already setting up 18 miles of "anti-scale fencing" and deploying drones, despite the usual no-fly zone rules. City representatives have told The Associated Press they're expecting an "preparing for an enormous turnout." Secret Service's Matt McCool from the Washington Field Office is preparing for "hundreds of thousands" to line the streets, while military sources estimate around 200,000 will join the celebrations. "We have a ton of magnetometers," McCool said. "If a million people show up, then we're going to have some lines." To manage the expected crowds, 175 magnetometers will be in place at security checkpoints throughout the day and for the evening parade. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith has warned of "major impacts to traffic" and advises attendees to consider using the Metro instead of driving. "This is a significant event with a large footprint," she stressed. "We're relying on the public to be an extra set of ears and eyes for us." The event has hit the headlines as a National Special Security Event, with security measures on par with presidential inaugurations or state funerals. This elite status is reserved for high-profile functions drawing sizeable gatherings and the likelihood of significant protests, triggering an increased security collaboration between local officials, the FBI, Capitol Police, and the National Guard, all led by the watchful Secret Service. Officials are also on high alert for possible immigration-related protests, mirroring those in Los Angeles, potentially hitting D. C. 's streets. "We're paying attention, obviously, to what is happening there. We'll be ready," affirmed McCool, underlining the extensive preparations in place to manage any civil unrest.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
What will be in Britain's $2.7 trillion spending review?
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves will reveal her first multi-year spending review on Wednesday, dividing up more than 2 trillion pounds ($2.7 trillion) of public money between her ministerial colleagues and setting their budgets until 2029. Below is what the government has already announced in the days preceding the announcement: Reeves will allocate 86 billion pounds to fund research and development. The package, funding everything from new drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries to artificial intelligence breakthroughs, will be worth more than 22.5 billion pounds a year by 2029/30, driving new jobs and economic growth, the government said. The government will invest a further 14.2 billion pounds to build the Sizewell C nuclear plant in eastern England. The funding takes the total government commitment to 17.8 billion pounds, with 3.6 billion invested before the review. It also pledged 2.5 billion pounds for a programme to develop a fleet of small modular nuclear plants over the next four years and named Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder. Britain says new nuclear projects will replace ageing plants, boost energy security, help it reach climate targets and create new jobs. Reeves has committed 15.6 billion pounds towards transport projects in cities outside London that have long suffered from underinvestment. Most of the investment was earmarked by the previous, Conservative government. Reeves has reversed her previously-announced cuts to winter fuel payments to pensioners, a move that would restore payments to 9 million pensioners and cost the government 1.25 billion pounds. Britain will invest more than 6 billion pounds in its submarine building capacity, supporting firms such as defence group BAE Systems and engineering multinational Rolls-Royce. The investment, which will cover the four-year spending review period, will help companies deliver the increase in submarine production rate announced by the government. Tax rises are not an option as Reeves has said she only intends to change tax policy once a year, and she has barely any room to borrow more without breaking what she has often said is an "ironclad" commitment to new fiscal rules. Reeves has promised to increase spending on policing in the review, but has not disclosed by how much. She is also expected to announce an investment of 4 billion pounds to build new prisons as the government scrambles to tackle an overcrowding crisis. The finance minister is expected to confirm 39 billion pounds in funding for a new programme to build affordable homes over the next decade - almost doubling the annual amount spent on this compared with current support. ($1 = 0.7399 pounds)
