Mexico's Apple Tariff Part 2

Mexico's Apple Tariff Part 2. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Mexico has upped the pressure on the U.S. in retribution for defunding a pilot program that allowed Mexican trucks into the U.S. The Teamsters Union has taken credit for the decision. Mark Powers, Vice President of Northwest Horticultural Council says they have been working on this issue with a lot of other players. POWERS: We will continue as we have for more than the past year working with our congressional delegation to try and find a solution; working with alliance groups, various agricultural groups and then the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. By putting a tariff on some 90 products and now apples it forces these various groups to put pressure on the government to find a solution. That extra tariff though is for the most part being paid for by the producers themselves. POWERS: On the flipside of the issue are the Teamsters, some independent trucking groups and their supporters in Congress and the administration that have not shown an interest in honoring the U.S. obligations under NAFTA. For apple producers it could mean up to $44 million dollars a year in economic impact in Washington State alone. POWERS: But the first thing that has to occur and should have occurred in our opinion long before now is to get a proposal out in the public and get it through Congress and get it going. We're over a year into the process and no proposal exists, nothing has been communicated regarding a solution to Mexico or affected industries. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.