Lawmakers Concerned With Possible 'Seasonality' Provisions in USMCA Legislation
A bipartisan group of 23 lawmakers from Arizona, California and Texas objected to the possible inclusion of "seasonality" provisions within the implementing legislation for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in a June 14 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "Seasonality, whereby certain agricultural products could be subjected to numerous seasonal and regional dumping duties at various times throughout the year, runs counter to the spirit of a free trade agreement intended to tear down both tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade," the lawmakers said. "Using USMCA as a vehicle for pursuing seasonal agriculture trade remedies risks pitting different regions of the country against each other."
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Tomatoes, avocados and watermelons are among the produce that would increase in price while availability declines, the group said. "We strongly oppose the inclusion of any agriculture seasonality provisions in USMCA implementing legislation, as they would run counter to consumer preferences, undermine the spirit of the trinational free trade agreement, and harm U.S. industries in order to artificially support a small segment of regional growers' interests." The USTR has not yet submitted the USMCA implementing legislation, which would start a timeline leading up to a congressional vote on USMCA, though the agency did make a preliminary step in that direction by sending a "Statement of Administrative Action" last month (see 1905310015).
The Border Trade Alliance offered support for the letter in a June 17 news release. "A small but vocal group of growers from the southeast U.S. has been urging Congress and the administration to implement protectionist barriers to the importation of fresh produce from Mexico in order to give their commodities a competitive advantage in the marketplace," the BTA said. "Produce interests from Florida and Georgia in May convinced the Department of Commerce to withdraw from the Tomato Suspension Agreement between the U.S. and Mexico, which governed tomato trade between the two countries since 1996."
Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., led the effort in the Senate, and Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, in the House, the BTA said. "A seasonality provision was not included in the USMCA agreed to by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in 2018, but protectionist interests are continuing to press Congress to amend the agreement to dramatically curb fresh produce imports from Mexico."