Protecting Florida Ranchers, Farmers from Trade War

Press Release

U.S. Representative Tom Rooney (FL-17), a member of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, today co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to repeal mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for beef, pork and chicken products. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled yesterday that the COOL requirements violate U.S. trade agreements, a ruling expected to trigger retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico on U.S. food, agriculture and manufacturing.

"If we don't act now to repeal COOL, we'll be inviting certain retaliation from two of our largest trading partners. This bill is critical to avoiding a trade war that could devastate Florida's farmers and ranchers, hamper our state's economic growth, and damage agriculture and manufacturing industries across the country," said Rooney.

"In light of the WTO's decision and the certainty that we face significant retaliation by Canada and Mexico, we cannot afford to delay action. That's why I was joined by 60 of my colleagues in introducing H.R. 2393, a bill to repeal mandatory COOL for beef, pork and chicken. This bill is a targeted response that will remove uncertainty, provide stability, and bring us back into compliance. I appreciate the support of so many colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we work quickly to ensure our economy and a broad spectrum of U.S. industries do not suffer the economic impacts of retaliation," said House Agriculture Chairman Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX).

"As we have seen time and again, mandatory Country of Origin Labeling is a misguided government policy that has damaged our trading relationships with Canada and Mexico and subjected the United States to trade retaliations. That is why I am honored to be joined by my colleagues in introducing critical bipartisan legislation to repeal COOL for beef, pork and chicken. We have the data, studies, and the World Trade Organization's experience to demonstrate that COOL is detrimental to our state and national economies, and hurts our nation's beef, pork and chicken producers and packers. As such, I look forward to continuing to work, in a bipartisan manner, with Congress to move this legislation forward and repeal COOL," said Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee's Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Committee.

Source