{"id":14032,"date":"2020-08-20T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chamberbusnews.wpengine.com\/?p=14032"},"modified":"2020-08-20T10:27:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T17:27:44","slug":"conflicts-over-aluminum-fresh-produce-threaten-arizona-u-s-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chamberbusinessnews.com\/2020\/08\/20\/conflicts-over-aluminum-fresh-produce-threaten-arizona-u-s-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Conflicts over aluminum, fresh produce threaten Arizona, U.S. trade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
American consumers and industries could face price hikes on fresh produce and aluminum products as trade conflicts with Arizona\u2019s top two trading partners heat up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just weeks after the new \u201ctariff-free\u201d United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) went into effect July 1, President Donald Trump announced he was reimposing a punishing 10 percent tariff on Canadian aluminum. Canada retaliated in kind the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, a domestic trade dispute over fresh produce from Mexico is threatening to stir up a new round of tariff battles as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both measures could disrupt relations with Arizona\u2019s top two trading partners, Mexico and Canada, during a time when many Americans are faced with financial hardships due to COVID-19 shutdowns, opponents said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTariffs are taxes, plain and simple,\u201d said Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona 小红帽直播app of Commerce and Industry. \u201cAs trade partners with Canada and Mexico, we see every day how Arizona benefits from these relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEfforts should be focused on expanding market access for American manufacturers and growing economic opportunities with our closest partners to lead to a greater variety of goods and price competition for U.S. consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is a rundown of what\u2019s happening:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of concern to importers and exporters is a long festering domestic battle over a rarely-used \u201ctrade remedy\u201d to affect seasonal produce coming from Mexico like tomatoes, peppers and strawberries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years, farmers in the Southeast have made a number of claims about Mexico, including that government subsidies to agriculture have harmed American farmers who cannot compete with the low price of produce flooding north over the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During heated hearings before U.S. trade officials last week, representatives from states like Florida called for the seasonality rule — known as Section 301 — to be enforced to improve the domestic competitiveness of American farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Representatives of Southeast agriculture testified that Mexican tomatoes and other produce are being sold well below fair market prices — a practice known as dumping — which it\u2019s creating \u201cunfair\u201d challenges for growers to compete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But opponents dispute those claims and have the research to prove it, said the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA), which is headquartered in Nogales, Arizona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recent analysis by the University of Arizona, for example, shows that since 1995, the U.S. has used up to 41 percent of its allowable subsidies while Mexico has averaged just 2 percent, the FPAA said last week. Also, the analysis did not include the $28 billion in aid to U.S. farmers to compensate them for the financial harm caused by trade disputes with foreign trading partners last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The so-called trade \u201cremedy\u201d would hurt American pocketbooks by instigating costly new tariffs on Mexican imports, the FPAA said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConsumers would pay more for strawberries, blueberries, bell peppers, tomatoes, sweet corn and watermelon if tariffs or quotas are put on these items through a 301 trade action as requested today by the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association,\u201d the FPAA stated in a press release<\/a> that countered the \u201crhetorical\u201d claims one by one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Imposing the action potentially could instigate \u201cnumerous and unending tit-for-tat trade wars\u201d with Mexico just weeks after the USMCA went into effect, the FPAA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That could imperil $40 billion in U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico and push up the cost of fresh produce from Mexico, said the FPAA, which represents 120 U.S. member companies involved in importing and marketing fresh fruits and vegetables grown in Mexico and distributed across the U.S. and the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Arizona\u2019s congressional delegation has stepped in to intervene, calling on the White House to reject the proposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis trade remedy would affect Arizona\u2019s economy, the U.S. agribusiness supply chain, and consumers all across the country who enjoy a diverse selection of tomatoes at low prices,\u201d said a letter sent by nine Arizona congressional members to the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The letter was signed by Arizona U.S. senators Kyrsten Sinema (D) and Martha McSally (R) and representatives Tom O\u2019Halleran (D), Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva (D), Andy Biggs (R), David Schweikert (R), Ruben Gallego (D), Debbie Lesko (R) and Greg Stanton (D). <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuch a provision would run counter to consumer preferences, undermine the spirit and benefits of free trade, risk reciprocal or retaliatory actions from our trade partners, and harm U.S. industries in order to artificially support a small segment of regional growers\u2019 interests,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In another blow to many industries that rely on aluminum, President Trump reimposed tariffs on Canadian aluminum this month. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded the next day with retaliatory tariffs on $2.7 billion worth of U.S. aluminium products. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAction could instigate another tariff war with Mexico<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Bipartisan front in Arizona opposes attack on \u201cfree trade\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Canadian and U.S. aluminum hit with new trade taxes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n