Trade Investigation & Retaliation Pt 2
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. An investigation approved by the U.S. Trade Representative is looking into claims imported blueberries are undermining the efforts of domestic growers and whether or not they need protection. Some worry that could lead to retaliation against the U.S. apple industry.
But, Northwest Horticultural Council president Mark Powers says there are different ways the U.S. can take action to protect domestic industries, as long as the legal standards are followed …
POWERS … “The problem, from our prospective, is that the rules have gone out the window in international trade, generally. You have a World Trade Organization that is now dysfunctional. Countries are now retaliating regardless of the merit of their retaliation. So, that does pose a problem.”
Powers says it’s a slippery slope …
POWERS … “And so, what we’re concerned about is regardless of whether or not there is a legitimate case, our growers may be retaliated against.”
Powers says their message to the USTR is this …
POWERS … “Listen, we’re not arguing against assisting domestic industries. We’ve looked at that before for our industries. Now, we couldn’t meet the legal standard at the times that we’ve been looking at import penetration, but find a way to assist these other sectors that doesn’t result in retaliation against our sector.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on this tricky investigation and the unintended consequences aren’t so much.
