U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) on Oct. 2 introduced the bipartisan Agricultural Trade Improvement Act of 2018, which Florida congressional legislators think will pick up the slack created for their home-state specialty crop growers in the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“While recent renegotiations of NAFTA have not produced positive results for specialty crop growers in south Florida, we must do everything possible to provide them with the tools and protections they need to compete in a fair way,” Rep. Curbelo said earlier this week. “This legislation allows our south Florida growers to sell their specialty crops at fair and competitive prices in our domestic market, and protects them from unfair trade practices.”
The House bill is a companion bill to the same-named S. 3510, introduced on Sept. 26 by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL). U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL) joined Rep. Curbelo in introducing the bipartisan House version.
Florida’s agriculture industry accounts for more than 100,000 jobs in the Sunshine State and $12 billion of economic output each year, according to Rep. Curbelo’s Oct. 2 statement. Since 2000, Florida has lost between $1 billion and $3 billion annually due to increased Mexican imports. Florida and Mexico share similar growing seasons, and Mexico produces many of the same specialty crops, albeit with the advantage of government subsidies and less regulations compared to Florida, according to the statement.
If enacted, the measure would amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide for the treatment of core seasonal industries affected by antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, among other provisions, according to the text of the bill.
The proposal’s so-called seasonality/perishable provisions, according to Curbelo’s statement, aren’t included in the Trump administration’s recently renegotiated trade deal. Thus, the bill would allow American specialty crop growers to request the imposition of antidumping or countervailing duties, according to Rep. Curbelo’s statement.
Under current law, a trade remedy petition requires the support of either 25 percent of the domestic industry that produces a similar product or at least 50 percent of the support of all producers of a domestic like product that expressed a position, according to a summary of the bill from the congressman’s office.
The legislation would have the equal authority of a seasonality/perishable provision in NAFTA, a provision that Rep. Curbelo urged the administration to include in the final trade deal and one that he thinks would better prepare specialty crop growers to compete with Mexico’s unfair trade practices.
“I represent rural parts of North Florida, and in my district and much of Florida, we have a serious issue with Mexico’s dumping into our country’s agriculture market,” said Rep. Lawson. “This problem of dumping is with both specialty crops and sugar, causing some Florida farmers to go out of business. This below-cost produce is crippling Florida’s agriculture industry. Now is the time to address these unfair trading practices and protect our nation’s farmers.”
“Free trade and amicable partnerships with our neighbors have been a cornerstone of the American economy for decades,” Rep. Curbelo added.