Growers in the Southeast Need to Make Their Voice Heard Now

By Frank Giles|February 24, 2020

By the time the February issue of Florida Grower reached most mailboxes, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) trade pact was signed into law. It was lauded by most agricultural interests in the U.S., but for specialty crop growers in the Southeast, it brings no improvements over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which it will replace.

Lawmakers and industry had fought for a “seasonal fix” to protect key crop segments during the main growing seasons for Florida and Georgia, but those efforts didn’t make any headway. That was, in part, due to a lack of unanimity among the specialty crop sectors. Take blueberries, for example, where growers in the Western states were not so interested in a seasonal fix. That is, until Peru began ramping up its blueberry production and getting into Western growers’ market window. This has brought them to the table seeking remedies for what USMCA will not fix.

In January, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter to the Georgia Congressional delegation outlining the intention to investigate unfair trade practices from Mexico and South America that have harmed growers in Florida and Georgia. The letter outlined four priorities, as follows.

• First, Lighthizer will begin working immediately with relevant U.S. government and state agencies and U.S. seasonal and perishable sectors to identify and compile documentation on trade-distorting policies that may be contributing to unfair pricing in the U.S. market and to assess the impact of those policies on U.S. producers.
• Second, within 90 days of the U.S. Congress passing the USMCA implementing legislation, Lighthizer and the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture will hold field hearings in Florida and Georgia to hear firsthand from U.S. seasonal and perishable producers on trade-distorting policies that may be contributing to unfair pricing in the U.S. market and causing harm to their farms.
•Third, as appropriate, Lighthizer also may request that the International Trade Commission help monitor imports of seasonal and perishable goods, recognizing that similar monitoring initiatives de-linked from viable enforcement actions under NAFTA were ineffective in remedying harm to the U.S. seasonal and perishable products covered by that monitoring.
•Fourth, the Department of Commerce, through its designated experts within the International Trade Administration, will continue working with U.S. producers of seasonal and perishable products on potential trade cases pursuant to sections 702 and 732 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and will, in the appropriate circumstances, self-initiate such cases.

The fact Lighthizer sent the letter is significant. It puts the administration on record that the office of U.S. Trade Representative recognizes the problem and is willing to take action. But it is important your voice is heard, especially in the upcoming field hearings in Florida and Georgia. If Mexican imports are depressing your crop market, attend the hearings and share your story. It will make a difference.