(Washington,
D.C.)
Today,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) praised an announcement by U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Ray LaHood that the Administration will be moving forward with a
proposal to negotiate an end to the Mexican tariffs on agricultural products in
Washington state and across the country. LaHood called Murray earlier today and
she urged him to move quickly to implement the proposal. Murray also called on
the Mexican government to immediately end their tariffs now that a proposal has
been put forward.
“I
am glad that the Administration is moving forward with a plan to finally end
the devastating Mexican tariffs on Washington state agricultural products,” said Senator
Patty Murray. “I have been working closely with farmers and growers
across Washington state to fight against these unfair tariffs that are killing
jobs and hurting the local agricultural industry. Now that this proposal has
been put forward, I am strongly urging the Mexican government to end their
harmful tariffs immediately and allow our farmers to once again compete on the
level playing field they deserve”
Click here for information
on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposal.
-
On
September
28, 2010, Murray brought Secretary LaHood to Washington state to meet with
local growers so that he could hear first-hand about the devastating
effects Mexican tariffs are having on the state’s agriculture industry. -
On
July 26, 2010, she included language in a key Senate spending bill that
calls on the administration to put forward a plan that would end retaliatory
tariffs on Washington state agricultural products by October 1, 2010. -
On
May 28, 2010, Murray sent
a letter to President Barack Obama urging him move forward with a plan to
end Mexican tariffs that have had a devastating impact on the Washington state
agricultural industry. Murray sent the letter after President Obama met with
Mexican President Felipe Calderon. During the meeting, the two presidents
discussed the tariffs Mexico has placed on U.S. products. Mexico has targeted
eighty-seven Washington state products in this dispute and hundreds of jobs
have been lost. -
Prior
to the meeting between President Obama and Mexican President Calderon, Senator
Murray sent a President a letter urging him to use the meeting as an
opportunity to work to end Mexican tariffs that have had a devastating
impact on the Washington state farmers and families. She has also spoken
with senior White House officials to reemphasize that point. -
On
May 4, 2010 Senator
Murray met with the Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan
to discuss the impact of Mexican tariffs on Washington state families, jobs,
and agriculture industry. Murray urged the Mexican government to end the
retaliatory tariffs that are harming Washington state families, and to use
Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s upcoming visit to Washington, D.C. as an
opportunity to resolve the differences. -
In
early March, at a hearing of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator
Murray pushed Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to move faster on
a plan to resume cross-border trucking with Mexico, urging him to resolve
the situation to save American jobs while ensuring the safety of the public at
large. - In
October 2009, Senator Murray hosted a meeting between Washington state farmers
and Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari to make sure he understood
the local impact of the retaliatory tariffs. In April of that year, she
joined a bipartisan Senate letter to the Obama Administration urging the end of
these punitive tariffs.
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