Mexico Delays U.S. Potatoes Pt 3
I’m Bob Larson. The National Potato Council is urging enforcement of the USMCA with Mexico where the Supreme Court has delayed a decision on whether or not to overturn a ban on U.S. fresh potato imports.
NPC CEO Kam Quarles says they’ve joined in a letter with more than 20 ag groups expressing their concerns over Mexico’s trade relationship with the U.S. …
QUARLES … “You know, we’re hopeful Secretary Vilsack, U.S. Trade Representative Tai, can work with the Mexican administration in seeing the U.S. rights. In our case, and of course you have a number of different ag issues, seeing the U.S. rights enforced so we have the trade relationship with Mexico that we’re supposed to have.”
This decades-long struggle, Quarles says has been bipartisan …
QUARLES … “It has not been a Republican or a Democrat issue. They all know that what the Mexican potato industry is doing is pure protectionism.”
And while they wait, Quarles says the industry will move on …
QUARLES … “This is kind of like water flowing to the least point of resistance. You’ve got a lot of other export markets that we’re going to concentrate time on that are open right now. But, this is a big one. We’re not going away. We’re not going to stop. If the legal system doesn’t provide us with relief, we’re going to move through every mechanism that we can. We’re going to get access to Mexico.”
Quarles says whatever it takes.
Quarles says the lawsuits claim the Mexican government has no authority to provide market access to any agricultural commodity.
