As USMCA Takes Effect, Commissioner Nikki Fried Releases Report Highlighting $3.7 Billion in Florida Farm Losses From Unfair Trade

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, following the Trump administration’s new USMCA trade policy entering into force on July 1, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried was joined by U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy (FL-7) and Bud Chiles of Demand American Grown for a virtual press conference. Fried released a new study conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) showing $3.7 billion in economic losses suffered by Florida seasonal produce growers as a result of unfair trade practices. With USMCA now in force, the U.S. Trade Representative has committed to releasing a plan to address these unfair trade practices within the next 60 days.

“The concerns of Florida’s farmers with the USMCA remain the same as when NAFTA was being renegotiated two years ago — it lacks urgently needed protections against unfair trade practices that have devastated our growers’ ability to compete,” said Commissioner Nikki Fried. “With the USMCA entering into force yesterday, we sent a new study to the U.S. Trade Representative showing just how much our seasonal producers have suffered from unfair trade practices. I look forward to working with Ambassador Lighthizer and our agriculture community to ensure seasonal producers get the enforcement tools they need to remain competitive.”

The report, “Putting Florida’s Farmers First: Mexico’s Ag-Exports Impacts on Florida Agriculture,” examines how Florida agricultural commodities have been adversely impacted by Mexican fresh agricultural exports from 2000-2019. The findings demonstrate that Florida producers continue to suffer a disproportionate economic injury because of the influx of foreign imports with lower prices that are supported by unfair government practices. The report, which was produced by the FDACS Division of Marketing and Development’s Bureau of Strategic Development, was submitted to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). While the report only highlights impacts on Florida growers specifically, these unfair trade practices devastating seasonal producers are not isolated to the state or region.

VIDEO: Video of the Zoom press conference may be viewed and downloaded here.

“Trade is vital to the success of our entire economy, but we need a rules-based system for everyone to compete on a level playing field,” said Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, a member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade. “Unfair trade practices need to be addressed, and Florida fruit and vegetable growers deserve to have access to lawful remedies. Fighting for our seasonal growers was, and continues to be, my main concern with USMCA. We need action from this Administration to protect Florida’s farmers for the major economic impacts they’ve suffered due to illegal dumping.”

“The USMCA creates a vastly unlevel playing field between Florida growers and American growers,” said Bud Chiles, founder of Demand American Grown. “As a blueberry grower, people love to come to our farm, but when we sell fruit to the commercial market, the value we receive is barely enough to pay for the costs of the good environmental rules and regulations we pursue to provide organic, fresh fruit. We’re competing against a system in which a small number of corporate entities have outsourced our food supply. For 200 years, we’ve recognized that farming and our food supply is a national security issue – we cannot give up our food supply to foreign countries.”

The report, which can be viewed in full at FDACS.gov/USMCAReport, found that Florida farmers have faced economic losses, losses in market share, and losses in production as Mexican growers have seen increases. Some of the top findings include:

• Mexico has expanded their share of the U.S. domestic market by 217% since 2000 — while Florida’s market share dropped by 40%
• Mexico’s seasonal crop imports have increased by 551% from 2000 to 2019
• An $11 billion gap exists between Mexican agricultural-exports and Florida’s total agricultural market value
• Florida producers lost sales of up to 20% due to Mexico’s agricultural export expansion since 2000. This accounts for up to:
  • $3.7 billion in total economic losses for Florida’s economy
  • 37,180 lost jobs in Florida
  • $205 million in lost indirect tax revenue for Florida’s economy
  • $2.2 billion in annual losses of Florida cash receipts to multiple agricultural sectors
  • 20 Florida commodities examined experienced declines in market share, while 13 Mexican commodities increased their share by 100% or more

USTR Commitments: In January, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer made formal commitments to protect American seasonal produce growers from unfair trade practices. These commitments came in response to an April 2019 Florida Congressional delegation request, which was supported and echoed by Commissioner Fried. The USTR had previously scheduled a field hearing in Florida, to speak to growers directly about their concerns; due to COVID-19, the hearing was indefinitely postponed. 

Background: The USMCA is the Trump administration’s rewrite of trade terms between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Since taking office, Commissioner Fried has been a leading voice in opposition to the policy because of its failure to address the dire situation facing Florida’s seasonal crop growers. Commissioner Fried wrote in The Hill that it “was a bad deal when introduced, and remains a bad deal now,” visited Washington D.C. numerous times to request Congress include provisions to protect seasonal producers, and sent a letter to the USTR, raising Florida’s serious concerns. Continuing her advocacy on behalf of growers, Commissioner Fried was critical when Vice President Pence visited Florida to promote the USMCA, has called the deal “smoke and mirrors from the White House,” and was the nation’s only Agriculture Commissioner to vote against a resolution supporting the USMCA.

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