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Passage of this legislation — the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as “card check” — would further erode American business competitiveness in the global marketplace.

In a matter of hours following a demand by the Obama administration, Chrysler LLC said Monday it has agreement to form a “global alliance” with Italian auto maker Fiat, news services reported.

Spurred by trucking industry leaders, more states this year are banning contracts that shift liability for any incident that occurs on a shipper’s premises to freight carriers, joining more than a dozen other states that have acted to protect carriers from what they say are unfair contracts.

Rising oil prices and growing distillate demand pushed the U.S. national diesel average 7.3 cents higher to $2.09 last week, the first increase in more than two months, the Department of Energy reported.

WASHINGTON — Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee criticized Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the Obama administration for refusing to consider an increase in the federal fuel tax.

A federal appeals court has thrown out the Port of Los Angeles’ ban on owner-operators and questioned the legality of concession requirements at the adjacent Long Beach port for drayage operators to file financial statements and give hiring preferences to experienced port drivers.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States is “working very hard to achieve a resolution” to a trade dispute that led to Mexico imposing tariffs on U.S. goods valued at more than $2 billion after President Obama signed a law ending a cross-border trucking plan.

China passed the United States last year to become the world’s second largest auto-producing nation behind Japan, according to a California research firm.

The private sector has plenty to worry about at the moment. On a global scale, there are the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran’s nuclear issues.