Grower Tells Fear of Trade Agreement : Commerce: Assembly panel hears testimony on proposed free-trade pact between U.S. and Mexico that some feel will devastate businesses.
Carlsbad flower grower Judy Fowler is about as delighted with the prospect of a free trade agreement with Mexico as she is with an impending frost, a jump in her water bill or an invasion of aphids or gallwasps.
In testimony Thursday before a state Assembly joint committee hearing in San Diego on the effects of the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement, Fowler said she and other growers in the county and state will probably oppose the trade agreement unless it contains several conditions to ensure “a level playing field” on which California farmers can compete with Mexican growers.
Fowler’s comments, delivered on behalf of the California Farm Bureau Federation, were an example of how the prospect of free trade elicits unhappiness among some local and state business interests. Some agriculture interests in particular feel threatened, and none more than San Diego’s avocado, cut flowers, tomato and strawberry growers who already face stern competition from south-of-the-border farmers.
Now being hashed out by U.S. and Mexican negotiators, the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement would eliminate over time all tariffs and trade barriers among the United States, Mexico and Canada on all goods, including farm products.
But the California Farm Bureau Federation, a privately funded organization representing 45,000 farmers, wants several conditions written into the agreement, such as a phased-in approach to tariff elimination that could protect some crops for as long as 10 to 20 years.
State farmers also want “snap-back” provisions that would reinstitute tariffs if some California growers are mortally damaged by low-cost Mexican crops.
And Fowler said her industry wants “rules of origin” enforced so that Mexico could not become a “transit zone” through which crops grown in other countries could be channeled into U.S. markets. She fears that cut flowers from Central and South America would be “dumped” on the U.S. market via Mexico. Pesticide bans must also be monitored, she said.
The free-trade agreement has been given top priority by President Bush and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and could be in place by 1993 or 1994 if both nations’ congresses approve. Although pockets of U.S. opposition have grown with the recession, particularly among organized labor and environmental groups, the general consensus is that the U.S. Congress would pass a free trade bill if it voted today.
As demonstrated at Thursday’s hearing held at San Diego State University, however, the downside to the trade agreement is getting increased attention. The hearing was chaired by Assembly Agriculture Committee chairman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos) and by Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the Assembly’s Select Committee on California-Mexico Affairs.
Areias, whose district includes heavily agricultural Monterey County and the Salinas Valley, noted that four frozen-food processing companies, including Pillsbury-Green Giant and J.R. Simplot, have left or downsized operations in his district in favor of new plants in Mexico, a process that he said might be hastened by free trade.
Wayne G. Pullan, executive officer of the state Department of Food and Agriculture’s export program, told the panel that his department believes the free trade agreement will be good overall for state agriculture, now a $17.5-billion industry, because, ultimately, it will expand the market for California crops.
Some California crops such as nuts, deciduous fruits and wine will directly benefit because Mexican farmers cannot compete in those areas, Pullan said.
Nevertheless, Pullan said his department has lobbied in favor of “snap-back” and strong enforcement provisions in direct discussions with the office of U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills. The state agriculture department also wants Mexico to “implement the same labor laws as the U.S.”
As far as Fowler is concerned, the elimination of trade barriers would only amplify existing disadvantages that she and other San Diego County growers face, such as higher taxes, water, labor and worker’s compensation insurance costs. The trade agreement will give her one more incentive to move her farm operations to a lower-cost state or to Mexico, a move she already is contemplating.
“Ten years ago, San Diego County was one of the largest producers of roses, carnations and mums. Now we grow only for the California market,” said Fowler, owner of Tenaja Flower Co. of Carlsbad, whose principal crops are filler products used in floral arrangements. “We’re being legislated into not being able to do business.”
According to San Diego County Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Bill Snodgrass, the county’s cut flower crop was worth $100 million to $120 million to the county’s economy in 1990.
The county’s tomato and strawberry crops, which respectively generated $46 million and $21 million last year, have been in decline in recent years as many San Diego County farmers have formed joint ventures or distribution arrangements with Mexican farmers. The county avocado harvest was worth $138 million, about the same as the previous year.
