Statement by Commissioner Nikki Fried on Encouraging U.S. Trade Representative to Implement Agricultural Trade Relief

Tallahassee, Fla. — This week, a bipartisan group of members of Congress wrote a letter[ ] to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asking her to work towards implementing trade relief for American seasonal and perishable produce growers. The 39 congressional members represent Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Minnesota, underscoring the devastating impacts of unfair trade practices on agriculture producers across the nation.

On the letter, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried offered the following statement:

“Florida’s and the nation’s seasonal crop producers have long suffered from unfair trade practices that threaten their livelihoods and our safe, secure domestic food supply. It’s past time for common-sense trade solutions that give Florida’s growers a level playing field on which to compete. I join this bipartisan, bicameral multi-state delegation in urging Ambassador Tai and the Biden Administration to work with Congress and take action to put American farmers first. I thank the more than three dozen members of Congress who wrote encouraging this action, led by Senator Rubio and Representatives Diaz-Balart, Soto, and Lawson, and including Senator Rick Scott, Senator Warnock of Georgia, and the majority of Florida’s congressional delegation.”

Background: Since taking office, Commissioner Fried has been a leading voice seeking remedies to unfair foreign trade. Fried has testified numerous times before the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding distorting trade policies by Mexico and other importing nations. She led the opposition to USMCA’s failure to address the dire situation for produce growers; as the USMCA came into force, she released a report highlighting up to $3.7 billion in Florida farm losses from unfair trade. Commissioner Fried has visited Washington D.C. numerous times to request Congress include provisions to protect seasonal producers, and was the nation’s only Agriculture Commissioner to vote against a resolution supporting the USMCA.

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