Cassidy, GOP colleagues seek level playing field for U.S. rice producers

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) earlier this week joined several of his Senate GOP colleagues in supporting a petition filed by the USA Rice Federation that would reform the nation’s largest trade preference program and level the playing field for American rice producers.

Specifically, the federation proposes to remove all rice tariff lines from the list of eligible commodities for duty-free access to the United States under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), according to a Sept. 21 letter Sen. Cassidy and the lawmakers sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

“We understand GSP is meant to be a win-win for both the U.S. and our trading partners, but unfortunately, in the case of rice, our biggest competitors on the world stage have taken advantage of the program for far too long,” the senators wrote.

Over the past several years, for instance, Sen. Cassidy and his colleagues wrote that they have seen an annual uptick in rice imports from countries that have GSP eligibility. 

“Coupled with our competitors’ high and rising domestic subsidies, these unfair advantages are having negative implications for our rice farmers, millers, merchants and allied businesses, who are losing domestic market share,” they wrote.

Sen. Cassidy and the lawmakers requested that Lighthizer remove rice from the GSP eligibility list as he continues efforts to promote fair and free trade. 

Among the six other Republican senators who joined Sen. Cassidy in signing the letter was U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).