Asparagus farmers up in arms
By LEAH BETH WARD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
A first-ever free-trade agreement between the United States and Peru will not limit imported asparagus, angering U.S. growers who have long complained the government gave away their industry in a failed war on the illicit drug trade.
A joint statement issued Thursday by growers in Washington, Michigan and California expressed "dissatisfaction and outrage" with the U.S. Trade Representative for not negotiating tariffs on asparagus imports.
U.S. asparagus growers have been losing market share to Peru over the past decade as a result of the 1991 Andean Trade Preferences Act. Part of the U.S. "war on drugs," the act dropped trade barriers to encourage Andean farmers to grow legal crops instead of coca plants used in cocaine.
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
A first-ever free-trade agreement between the United States and Peru will not limit imported asparagus, angering U.S. growers who have long complained the government gave away their industry in a failed war on the illicit drug trade.
A joint statement issued Thursday by growers in Washington, Michigan and California expressed "dissatisfaction and outrage" with the U.S. Trade Representative for not negotiating tariffs on asparagus imports.
U.S. asparagus growers have been losing market share to Peru over the past decade as a result of the 1991 Andean Trade Preferences Act. Part of the U.S. "war on drugs," the act dropped trade barriers to encourage Andean farmers to grow legal crops instead of coca plants used in cocaine.
posted by Terry at
3:29 AM
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