Letter to the Hon. Robert Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative - Rep. Austin Scott, GA Delegation Urge U.S. Trade Representative to Protect Georgia's Specialty Crops in NAFTA

Letter

Dear Ambassador Lighthizer:

We write to reiterate our strong support for inclusion of measures to protect Georgia's specialty crop industry, address current unfair trade practices, and mounting Mexican imports in any final renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

As members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation, we are extremely concerned about the unprecedented growth in imports from Mexico as a result of their unfair subsidies and illegal seasoned dumping and the impact it is having domestically. The United States has an agriculture trade deficit with Mexico of around $5 billion, much of which is in the fruit and vegetable sector. Because Georgia and Mexico share a similar growing season and produce a number of the same specialty crops, Georgia producers have been hit particularly hard.

As one of the leading producers of fruits and vegetables in the country, the specialty crop industry is absolutely critical to our home state of Georgia. And while we grow the highest quality produce in the world and can compete in the global marketplace, our industry is hurting right now.

This is why any final agreements must allow our fruit and vegetable growers to use seasonal data to seek regional relief in anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases. We need to provide them with the necessary tools to make the case that Mexico is selling produce at unfairly low prices when certain crops are in season in a particular region.

Furthermore, failure to include such a provision would also be inconsistent with trade objectives clearly outlined by Congress in Trade Promotion Authority, which instructed our trade negotiators to "improve import relief mechanisms to recognize the unique characteristics of perishable and cyclical agriculture; and ensure that import relief mechanisms for perishable and cyclical agriculture are as accessible and timely to growers in the United States."

We applaud and greatly appreciate your efforts to seek measures consistent with this instruction for our seasonal and perishable crops to date, and urge your steadfast commitment to ensuring the vital unfair trade remedies are included in any final NAFTA agreement.

We respectfully request an update on the current status of negotiations regarding these particular provisions, and appreciate your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Representative Austin Scott

Representative Rick Allen

Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.

Representative Earl L. "Buddy" Carter

Representative Doug Collins

Representative Karen Handel

Representative Jody Hice

Representative David Scott