The citrus and sugar industries Wednesday argued they would not survive unless they are exempt from trade deals with competing nations.
The arguments before the House Agriculture Committee were not new, but they came a day after the United States and Australia signed a free trade pact that excluded sugar from the talks. The exemption has drawn criticism from other commodity groups who say it sets a bad example for future negotiations.
Officials for citrus and sugar producers, two major Florida industries, said the Australia pact shows exemptions for sensitive crops would not unravel trade deals.
Negotiations with Brazil are among the biggest concerns for both citrus and sugar. The sugar industry is defending itself in a number of other negotiations as well that are part of President Bush's ambitious trade agenda.
"Many of our members will finish this season at a financial loss," said Squire Smith, president of Florida Citrus Mutual, a group that represents most of that state's 11,000 growers. "Those that survive in the business will spend the next several years working to recover. The tariff on orange juice must not be reduced or eliminated."
The citrus industry depends on tariffs on Brazilian orange juice to keep its only competitor from flooding the market with cheap imports.
Representatives of many other agricultural commodities -- such as chicken, corn, rice, beef and pork -- expressed concerns about various aspects of some trade negotiations but also saw opportunities.
After the hearing, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, said that the exclusion of sugar in the Australia pact should give the citrus industry hope that it can get the same treatment from Brazil when a hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americas is hammered out.
Putnam said it is hard to overstateThe Ledger (Lakeland, FL):
