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Florida sugar, citrus against Free Trade Area of the Americas plan (Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003 -- CropChoice news) -- Peter Wallsten, The Miami Herald, 11/05/03: Listeners to Spanish-language radio in South Florida tuned in last week to hear a surprising political ad aired by the state's sugar makers.
The industry is usually happy to help Gov. Jeb Bush and his brother,
President Bush, both of whom have benefited from millions of dollars in
campaign contributions from sugar companies and their executives.
But this message was sure to make the Bush family cringe.
''This industry, so closely tied to our community, is threatened by a
proposal being made by the administration of President Bush,'' the narrator
warns sternly, predicting job losses and economic devastation if plans
proceed for a ''Bush free trade plan.''
The ad, aired repeatedly on Radio Mambi along with a toned-down English
version on other stations, illustrates the politically harrowing tightrope
the Bushes must walk: Pressing a hemispheric free trade agreement called the
Free Trade Area of the Americas at the same time the president prepares for
what could be a tough reelection battle.
The Bush brothers say the agreement is vital for diversifying the nation's
economy and spurring jobs -- especially in South Florida if Miami is chosen
as the trade pact's headquarters.
But Big Sugar and citrus growers, two of Florida's most influential
industries, are fighting key parts of the deal, wary that ending tariffs
would expose them to competition from foreign companies that benefit from
cheap labor and loose environmental restrictions.
While the two industries wield limited national clout against high-tech
companies and other business interests pushing free trade, they are flexing
their considerable political muscle in Florida, the state that put President
Bush into office by 537 votes and remains the nation's largest presidential
swing state.
Touting a combined economic impact of $12-billion and more than 100,000 jobs
in Florida, the two industries have embarked on aggressive campaigns
designed to remind White House trade negotiators that if they craft a deal
harmful to sugar or citrus, they do so at the president's electoral peril.
''If we were in North Dakota and didn't have 27 Electoral College votes, it
wouldn't have the same impact,'' said Andy LaVigne, executive director of
Florida Citrus Mutual, the primary lobbying arm of the state's orange and
grapefruit growers and juice makers.
CRUCIAL TALKS
That tension will be the backdrop as Gov. Bush and his brother's top
lieutenants host a crucial round of negotiations in Miami Nov. 17-21.
The governor traversed the free-trade tightrope during a recent speech on
Key Biscayne to the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, where he
promised to ''shamelessly'' protect the state's agriculture industries
against ''all comers,'' even as he and his brother fight for the FTAA.
''As we diversify our economy to draw higher wage jobs, as we invest in the
types of research that will spawn the new industries of the 21st century, we
can't turn our backs on agriculture,'' he said.
Free trade critics in the two Florida industries are forming an unlikely
alliance with tens of thousands of organized labor activists and other
anti-globalization protesters expected to attempt to overshadow the trade
talks, as they have done at similar meetings in Seattle and Cancun.
The sugar industry has ramped up its efforts recently by forming a new
political committee, the Sugar Industry Labor Management Committee, to fund
radio ads and other efforts. The Spanish-language ads hail sugar as part of
the community's ''heritage,'' a message targeted directly at Cuban Americans
critical to President Bush's reelection.
Citrus producers have launched what growers call their most aggressive PR
campaign ever, designed specifically to bolster the industry's image in the
eyes of Florida voters. Florida Citrus Mutual has hired a powerhouse
Republican polling firm, the Tarrance Group, to promote the popularity of a
product that has long defined Florida's image nationally.
Citrus has signed up big-league Washington lobbyist Bill Paxon, who became a
George W. Bush fundraising ''pioneer'' after raising $100,000 for his
reelection campaign.
The industry also has aired TV ads -- largely in swing vote areas around
Interstate 4 in citrus-rich Central Florida -- featuring Tampa Bay
Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden. The $4.5-million campaign is dubbed ''Citrus
Matters.''
Orange growers' biggest fear is that, by eliminating their protections, a
handful of Brazilian producers will corner the U.S. juice market with prices
set far lower than the Florida companies can afford to match. Brazil and
Florida currently account for 85 percent of the world's orange juice.
''The political underpinning here is don't mess around with the state's
second-largest industry that is predominantly grown in the I-4 corridor of a
state that narrowly went for the president,'' said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, a
Bartow Republican whose family grows citrus and who has lobbied President
Bush and his senior political advisor, Karl Rove, against eliminating
tariffs that would aid Brazilian juice producers.
Putnam said citrus advocates know their greatest leverage comes in the midst
of the 2004 campaign. The pitch: Thousands of registered Democrats in
citrus-producing counties who backed Bush in 2000 will have no qualms about
switching allegiances if they believe their jobs are in jeopardy.
Past statements by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick indicate he is
treading softly when it comes to Florida's industries. He held a contentious
meeting last year in Winter Haven with some of the state's biggest citrus
growers, listening to their fears but refusing to say what the final deal
would mean for them. Zoellick has said all options are open to negotiation.
So far, Gov. Bush and the Florida business lobby pushing both for the
agreement and for Miami's role as the permanent headquarters have offered a
nuanced approach that tries to assuage all players.
CLOSE TIES
Bush spokeswoman Jill Bratina called their goal ''free trade but fair
trade,'' offering a nod to the two industries that have enjoyed close ties
to the governor's office.
Aides to the governor say he is carefully lobbying his brother's
administration. But they acknowledge that Gov. Bush's advocacy for citrus is
angering Brazil, one of the most important countries involved in the
negotiations and a key player in deciding whether Miami will get the
headquarters.
A September letter to the governor from Brazil's ambassador to the United
States, Rubens Barbosa, chastises Bush for his quotes in a Florida newspaper
backing the citrus tariffs and suggesting that Brazil would have unfair
advantages.
''I am afraid, Mr. Governor, that you have apparently been seriously
misinformed by your staff on this issue,'' Barbosa wrote. ''Brazil has a
growing expatriate community living in Southern Florida, creating wealth and
paying taxes locally. It is unfortunate to see this very positive dynamic
tarnished by untrue allegations of unfair trade practices.'' | |
