Time To Dig In! Defense of Domestic Produce Against Unfair Trade Critical
August 13, 2021 My family loves berries. Avid readers of Florida Grower may remember my first column with the picture of my son’s head buried in a blueberry bucket from years ago. Not much has changed since that moment. Now, it’s hard to keep his little fingers out of the clamshell as soon as we are home from the store.
“Do you know where this came from?” I ask as I slap the container shut, realizing the fruit has almost disappeared.
He gives me that little six-year-old grin and a slight eyeroll that should only come from a teenager because he knows what I am about to say.
“From the farm, not the store,” I said. My husband is probably rolling his eyes somewhere because of how often this gets said.
But it’s true. Never has it been more important to teach the next generation how and where our food is grown. Because a country that understands and appreciates the food it eats and where it comes from is a country that will be able to feed itself in the future. Farmers are under tremendous pressure to compete and stay in business. We know this all too well at FFVA, and the importance of this cannot be overstated even more so after the last year. It is also a reality that is not lost on leaders at the highest levels of government. Over the last year, FFVA has continued its important work with other agriculture organizations, lawmakers, and the administration to seek immediate, effective, and enforceable relief for American growers facing unfair trade competition from foreign suppliers.
On May 5, a bipartisan letter, led by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart, Darren Soto, Austin Scott, Bill Huizenga, and Al Lawson, made its way to the new U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai. The letter included 39 signatures from congressional members from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The letter called for Tai to work with members of Congress to implement immediate trade relief measures.
In a June 22 Op-Ed in the Palm Beach Post, Senator Rubio wrote, “A failure to address trade disparities with Mexico would not only be profoundly destructive for our farmers in Florida but would also pose a grave threat to our nation’s food security and national security.”
These words followed the re-introduction of The Defending Domestic Produce Production Act on June 16. The bipartisan legislation aims to help specialty crop growers combat unfair trade practices, providing much-needed reform to U.S. trade laws. The bill was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate as S. 2080 by Senators Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) and in the U.S. House as H.R. 3926 by Representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Al Lawson (D-FL).
The bill includes 32 co-sponsors from Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and South Carolina. In fact, Florida’s entire congressional delegation signed on as co-sponsors. We’re grateful for the delegation’s leadership and continued support on this issue.
The re-introduction of this bill and the May 5 letter are both important steps in our continued efforts to identify desperately needed trade mechanisms to level the playing field. But we cannot do this alone. Florida growers who foster relationships with leaders in Washington — either through visits, calls or letters — make a tremendous impact in a meaningful way. We are grateful for those grower members who have already stepped up and made their voices heard not only with members of Congress but also with the U.S. International Trade Commission during hearings this past spring.
As we stay engaged on this issue and continue to make it a priority, we hope you will, too. Because your voice matters.
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