A group of Florida lawmakers from both sides of the isle has asked the US trade agency to investigate what they called a ‘flood of fruit and vegetable imports’ from Mexico, claiming it poses a direct threat to the state’s agricultural industry.
Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, together with more than 20 representatives, filed a petition to open an investigation using the same law that former President Donald Trump used to impose tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from China.
The lawmakers said in a letter to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai: “Mexico poses a direct threat to Florida’s seasonal and perishable agricultural industry, endangers the long-term food security of the US, and raises the prospect that Mexico will become an unchallenged hegemon in the winter and spring fruit and vegetable supply chain, with the ability to set market prices that harm American consumers.”
They added that their petition makes clear that “Mexico’s scheme to displace Florida’s seasonal and perishable agricultural industry from the US market is an unreasonable trade practice that constitutes export targeting.”
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca
Photo source: Nl.wikipedia.org