Mexico’s president intends to discuss a tariff his government
imposed on Washington frozen potatoes and other agricultural products
with President Obama during a state visit later this month, Sen. Patty
Murray’s office said Tuesday.
Murray, D-Wash., urged Mexico’s
ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, to prod his government
to end a year-old 20 percent tariff on more than 90 U.S. agricultural
and industrial products during a meeting Tuesday. Sarukhan told her his
president, Felipe Calderon, will raise the issue with Obama when they
meet, Murray’s office said.
The tariff contributed to a $19.7
million decline in the value of exported Washington agricultural
products to Mexico in 2009 compared with 2008, according
to the Washington Department of Agriculture. And it has hit potato
farmers particularly hard, because Mexico is the No. 2 international
export market for Washington frozen potatoes.
Washington sustained an estimated $14 million decline in frozen
potatoes exported to Mexico from April to December 2009, according to
the Washington State Potato Commission. About 20,000 jobs are supported
by the state’s potato industry, the commission said.
Mexico now
looks to Canada for the bulk of its french fries and other frozen potato
products, the commission said.
The U.S. potato industry,
according to the potato commission, has lost $31 million worth of export
business since the start of the retaliatory tariffs. They were imposed
after the expiration of a pilot program that allowed about 100
Mexican-owned trucks access to U.S. highways.
“I feel very
strongly that Washington state farmers and families shouldn’t be
punished for a diplomatic dispute they had nothing to do with,” Murray
told Sarukhan, according to her office. “I urge the Mexican government
to take a hard look at their list of retaliatory tariffs and end the
ones that are hurting so many Washington state families.”
Murray’s
office said she also plans to push Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
to explain how the administration plans to resolve the dispute when he
appears Thursday before the Senate Transportation Appropriations
Subcommittee, which the senator chairs.
“It’s very positive. Sen.
Murray, Sen. (Maria) Cantwell, Rep. (Doc) Hastings and our entire
congressional delegation has been very vocal about this issue,” said
Matt Harris, director of trade for the potato commission.
He also
said Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire questioned U.S. Trade
Representative Ron Kirk during a recent meeting in Seattle about
resolving the dispute.
“The (Obama) administration needs to know
this action is hurting our small businesses, and our delegation knows
that,” Harris said. “It’s not a fair deal to hold us captive for
something we have nothing to do with.”
The trade dispute began in
April 2009 after the end of the pilot trucking program, which was
intended to show that Mexican trucks and drivers could operate safely on
U.S. highways beyond border areas.
The Teamsters Union and some
highway safety groups objected to the pilot program, arguing Mexican
trucks were unsafe. And earlier this year, Jim Hoffa, president of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, reaffirmed his opposition.
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