Business
Buchanan says his bill would protect growers from Mexico’s unfair trade practices
Standing in front of the Harllee Barn at the Manatee County Fairgrounds, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, on Tuesday called for passage of legislation that would help level the playing field between growers in Mexico and the United States.
Buchanan called for a halt to seasonal dumping of Mexican produce on the American market, and unfair subsidies, trade practices that have hurt American growers for decades.
Manatee County, which once had seven packing houses, now has about half that many, with Harllee Packing House the most recent to close.
Buchanan placed his hopes for rules requiring fairer competition on the bipartisan Defending Domestic Produce Production Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Tallahassee Congressman Al Lawson, and Buchanan.
Among provisions of the bill is a mechanism that would allow U.S. growers to file a complaint with the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate illegal subsidies and dumping of Mexican fruits and vegetables in the U.S. market.
“This industry has not been treated fairly the past 25 years,” Buchanan said.
Florida Farm Bureau President John Hoblick joined Buchanan at the press conference.
“We have had a tremendous amount of farms that have closed their doors,” Hoblick said.
Gary Reeder, president of the Manatee County Farm Bureau, said his family has farmed tomatoes locally for several generations,
“Our industry has been cut in half with unfair trade practices. We have the highest food safety and worker safety standards, These other countries don’t play by the same rules that we do,” Reeder said.
In 2008, a salmonella outbreak sickened more than 1,000 Americans and cost Manatee County tomato growers millions of dollars. Eventually, investigators concluded that food safety measures in the United States had worked and that American farmers were not at fault.
The source of the salmonella was irrigation water and peppers grown on farms in Mexico.
The Defending Domestic Produce Production Act needs 218 votes to pass the House, with about 180-190 looking likely now, Buchanan said.
He added that he was confident that when the bill is scheduled for a vote, that there will be enough bipartisan support for it to pass.
“I feel pretty good about it,” Buchanan said.
Others joining Buchanan for the press conference were Kenneth Parker, president of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, strawberry grower Jay Sizemore, and blueberry grower Bobby Barden.
In a recent op-ed by Buchanan published in the Bradenton Herald, Buchanan said the trade issue is worsened because “Florida and Mexico share a similar growing season and grow a number of the same specialty crops.
“Florida producers have been particularly hard hit by current unfair trade practices and mounting Mexican imports flooding across our border,” Buchanan wrote.
“Over the past five to 10 years, the Mexican government has gifted their agriculture sector with illegal subsidies to grow produce destined for U.S. consumers. And Mexican growers have dumped less-than-fair-value products into our markets. As a result, for the last 19 years, Florida has lost between $1 billion to $3 billion annually,” Buchanan wrote.
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