04/14/05 Washington ag and CAFTA

04/14/05 Washington ag and CAFTA

Washington Ag April 14, 2005 Both proponents and opponents of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement kicked their public relations campaigns into high gear this week. The Agriculture Coalition for CAFTA released a study showing the benefits to American agriculture in 40 Congressional districts including two in Washington State. The study done by independent economic policy analyst Ross Korves, says that in Doc Hastings 4th Congressional District the benefit to agriculture from the trade agreement when it is fully implemented is likely to be from 14-and-a-half million dollars to 22.4 million dollars a year. In Ric Larsen's 2nd Congressional District the benefit to agriculture could be from 2.1 million to 3.8 million dollars a year. Pat Boss, executive director of the Washington Potato Commission, says the potato industry supports CAFTA. Boss: "Canada already has an agreement with the central American countries and they are getting a lower tariff than we are right now for potatoes. So we need to have the agreement or we will not be competitive with Canada." The American Farm Bureau Federation is among the national groups supporting the CAFTA-Dominican Republic trade pact. The National Farmers Union opposes it along with labor and environmental groups. The Washington Asparagus Commission has cancelled a special meeting that was scheduled for this afternoon at the Franklin County PUD in Pasco. That meeting has been cancelled. I'm Bob Hoff.
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