Florida’s Farmers Lost $4B to Mexico’s ‘Crop Dumping’

Florida’s farmers are still struggling even after the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which received bipartisan support in Congress. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is also calling on Floridians to buy Florida-grown products after Mexico’s “unfair trade practices.”

A new report from the Florida Department of Agriculture shows Florida is losing its market share for seasonal produce while Mexico’s share has continued to increase. The tactic is being referred to as “crop dumping,” which is when Mexican producers intentionally flood the American market with lower priced blueberries, strawberries, and other seasonal crops.

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Biden Says He Opposes NAFTA Despite Voting for it, Won’t Give Trump Credit for USMCA

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the trade deal President Donald Trump signed in 2018 is better than the trade deal he voted for in 1993 as a senator.
Biden admitted that the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) was better than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper that aired Thursday. However, he refused to give Trump credit for the USMCA instead saying the House of Representatives was primarily responsible.

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Commentary: Joe Biden Will Sell Out the American Worker Again

In 2016, President Donald Trump won on an America first message on trade, uniting blue-collar union and conservative households to get over the top in the Electoral College in the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Trump successfully made the case that America had gotten ripped off in prior trade dealings, particularly in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and in trade dealings with China, and that he alone could negotiate a better deal.

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‘New and Improved NAFTA’ Known as USMCA Would Prevent Outsourcing of Jobs, Steve Gill Tells Fox News

  President Donald Trump’s replacement for NAFTA continues to draw opposition from Democrats, something that Star News Political Editor Steve Gill discussed Friday on Fox News. Video of the interview is available here. Trump headed to Milwaukee to push for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump made his appeal for the USMCA to a friendly crowd in at Derco Aerospace, a Lockheed Martin-owned company, in Milwaukee, CBS News reported. The company provides logistics and technical support for fixed-wing aircraft. Gill spoke to Fox News about the president’s Wisconsin visit and the opposition he is facing from Democrats, which includes a claim by the president of the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition that Trump’s plan fails to prevent the outsourcing of jobs. However, Gill said, “This was one of President Trump’s key promises on the campaign trail that they would fix NAFTA, and that’s what this NAFTA 2.0, this new and improved NAFTA will do.” The new plan will benefit the agricultural and automotive industries, Gill said. Mexico has approved it and Canada is ready to approve it. “The only thing holding it up right now is the House Democrats, and frankly,…

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Ohio Democrats Negative on New NAFTA Deal Known as USMCA

  President Donald Trump’s Administration is expected to speed up the procedural steps necessary for a Congressional vote on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), media outlets report. Trump should issue a “statement of administrative action” soon, Reuters reported. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that was “not a positive step,” Reuters said, adding she wanted more time for lawmakers to review the agreement. The Republican National Committee has questioned why Democrats under the leadership of Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are holding up USMCA. Pelosi said Mexico must change its labor laws, while Schumer said there are “outstanding issues.” Several Ohio Democrats have posed roadblocks as well. In February, in response to Trump’s State of the Union mention of USMCA, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said: “While I continue to be supportive of renegotiating NAFTA, what I have seen so far does not do enough to protect the hardworking men and women of my district.” “For far too long, I have seen firsthand how unfair trade agreements have harmed our manufacturing industry in Ohio and across the United States. Just this week the GM plant in my district started its first round of layoffs. I join with my…

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Tim Ryan Blames Trump for Migrant Crisis, Calls the President ‘Lazy’

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), now a 2020 presidential hopeful, placed the fault for the current migrant crisis squarely on the shoulders of President Donald Trump Sunday, stating that “the president has caused it” by being “lazy.” The nine-term congressman made the statement during a wide-ranging interview with Kasie Hunt on MSNBC. Hunt asked specifically if there was a migrant “crisis” on the border, and Ryan replied by stating: It is [a crisis], and I think that the president has caused it, to be quite honest with you. He has failed to address the issues in Central America. Quite frankly, the president is lazy. He doesn’t read his presidential daily briefing. He ignored this problem. We want presidents to deal with the root of problems. Central America is a mess, and we are doing nothing to stabilize that region. Other Democratic legislators have been hesitant to label the current issues at the Mexico-U.S. border a “crisis,” opting instead to call it a “challenge.” "Quite frankly the president is lazy"@TimRyan says the president helped cause the humanitarian crisis at the border with Mexico. pic.twitter.com/nT95qXxho7 — Kasie DC (@KasieDC) April 15, 2019 Ryan went on to state that issues such as Trump’s inability to fill…

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Dr. Carol M. Swain Commentary: Trump’s Heroic Efforts to Fulfill His ‘Make America Great Again’ Promises

by Dr. Carol M. Swain   With President Donald Trump about to begin his third year in office, it’s fitting to discuss what he has accomplished since his election. Although the news is currently dominated by the federal government shutdown and the conflict between Trump and Democratic leaders over the funding of a wall on the Mexican border, it’s worthwhile to look beyond the headlines. What you will find will be shocking for any person unfortunate enough to get their news exclusively from America’s mainstream media. Despite unprecedented levels of opposition from national and international sources, Trump has been enormously successful at accomplishing his goals. He has been quietly checking items off a list of promises he made as candidate Trump, all part of his overriding goal to “Make America Great Again.” Note that wearing anything bearing that phrase is considered hate speech by the political left and an act of great bravery by the rest of America. Frustrated with media bias, the president’s supporters have kept their own running list of accomplishments. In October 2018, Washington Examiner reporter Paul Bedard reported 289 presidential accomplishments over the 20 months Trump had served in office. There is a website called MAGAPILL that has a running list of the…

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Trump Trade Deals with Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Japan: His ‘Keep America First’ Promise, Isolates China

by Natalia Castro   Everyone knew the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a bad deal. President Obama knew. Hillary Clinton knew. President Trump knew. But only President Trump was willing to use our leverage to push our neighbors to the negotiating table and work out a strong, better deal for the U.S. While previous presidents pandered to other nations in the name of globalization, Trump is pursuing bilateral trade relations which are more likely to put American first and get our workers back on the job. NAFTA resulted in significant job loss as manufacturing sectors moved to Mexico, wages in the U.S. stagnated while working conditions in Mexico deteriorated as well. While many American political leaders seemed to agree the deal was bad, former President Barack Obama never followed through on his campaign promise to renegotiate the deal — a promise he made repeatedly in Aug. 2007, Nov. 2007, Dec. 2007, Jan. 2008, and Feb. 2008. Similarly, in July 2016 Hillary Clinton denounced the deal saying it “had not lived up to its promises” and promised to rework it. Instead, Obama pursued the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — a deal that included Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Chile, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan…

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Sen. Lamar Alexander Tells Tennessee Star Report Vote on Kavanaugh Will Be Held This Week

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the men talked with Senator Lamar Alexander about getting the vote finalized after a seventh FBI investigation into Judge Kavanaugh is completed so that they can confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. “Well, Senator McConnell is determined to have the vote this week so we’ll get the FBI look at Judge Kavanaugh over the last 26 years.  We’ll see if it says what it said before.  We’ll have a day or two to read it, and then we’ll vote.  And so yes, I believe a vote will be this week sometime, maybe Friday or Saturday, but it will be this week,” Alexander said. At the beginning of the segment, Alexander commented in dismay regarding the issue of fairness and how the destruction of Kavanaugh’s reputation, which was excellent up until only ten days ago, has effected the nominee. “What people are overlooking is Judge Kavanaugh has been subjected to six background checks over the last 26 years in connection with the various federal positions he has.  And those background checks are extensive. The…

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Trump Proves Tariffs, Threat to Leave NAFTA Were Key Leverage to Negotiating USMCA, Puts Dems in Tight Spot

Trump right to try

by Robert Romano   They said it couldn’t be done. Once again, President Donald Trump is racing circles around his critics and showing that his tariff policy and the threat of leaving NAFTA altogether were most effective inducements to trade concessions, having resulted in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or the USMCA. The options for Canada and Mexico were to either give the U.S. the concessions it was demanding or else the U.S. would leave NAFTA. That the original NAFTA resulted in outsourcing is unquestioned. Since 1994, when NAFTA went into effect, the U.S. has had $1.033 trillion of goods trade deficits with Mexico and $923.4 billion with Canada, which is directly subtracted from the Gross Domestic Product. Its benefits were economically questionable, but politically it was unsustainable. Millions of lost manufacturing jobs later, and it created the political conditions necessary for Donald Trump to win the Electoral College in 2016 including the Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump transformed the electoral landscape of the U.S. on this issue, and then after he won, as President he threatened to leave the agreement if changes were not made. When push came to shove, all three sides were able to hammer out an accord…

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WINNING: Trump Scores NAFTA Deal After Last-Minute Negotiations with Canada

by Hanna Bogorowski   U.S. President Donald Trump came closer to fulfilling a campaign promise late Sunday night as he reached a revamped trade deal with Canada and Mexico that will rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after months of negotiations. Hours before Sunday’s midnight deadline proposed by the U.S., Canada agreed to sign on to the newly named United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which will give the U.S. greater access to Canada’s dairy markets as well as require a larger percentage of cars to be manufactured in North America. The deal will also include increased protections for workers in the U.S. and Canada. “Mexico and Canada have agreed to strong new labor protections, environmental protections and new protections for intellectual property,” Trump said at a press conference Monday. “This new deal is an especially great victory for our farmers.” “For example, we [will] require a large portion of every car to be made by high-wage workers, which will greatly reduce foreign outsourcing which was tremendous problem,” he said. “More automobiles and parts will be manufactured inside the United States. We will be manufacturing many more cars and our companies won’t be leaving the United States, firing their workers and building their cars…

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Commentary: Trump Kills NAFTA

Donald Trump

by CHQ Staff   President Donald Trump has fulfilled another campaign promise and effectively killed the never “free” North American Free Trade Agreement by concluding a separate preliminary United States–Mexico Trade Agreement that modernizes and rebalances the trade relationship between the two countries. According to a White House news release this is the first time that a modern United States trade agreement has been renegotiated. In a live telephone conversation with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, President Trump said, “…they used to call it NAFTA.  We’re going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and we’ll get rid of the name NAFTA.  It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years.  And now it’s a really good deal for both countries, and we look very much forward to it.” Defying the critics who said that Trump was alienating Mexico, President Peña Nieto said through an interpreter, “And I’m really grateful, Mr. President.  I want to say that you — I greatly recognize and acknowledge your political will and your participation in this.” President Peña Nieto also noted, “I think this is something very positive for the United States and Mexico. …

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Mexico President-Elect Writes to Trump About Migration, NAFTA

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, seeking to initiate “a new stage in the relationship” of the two countries and to make progress in the areas of “trade, migration, development and security.” Lopez Obrador handed the seven-page letter to a U.S. delegation that visited the country on July 13. Marcelo Ebrard, foreign minister-designate, read the letter to reporters on Sunday, and said Trump had received the letter. In the letter, Lopez Obrador said Mexico is home to the largest number of Americans living outside the U.S. and “the United States is the largest home for Mexicans outside of our borders.” “I believe that the understanding that I propose in this letter should lead us to a worthy and respectful treatment of these communities,” he said. Lopez Obrador suggested creating a development plan that included other Central American countries, where migrants also live in poverty and lack job opportunities. He suggested that if the U.S., Mexico and other Central American countries, “each one contributing according to the size of its economy. … We could gather a considerable amount of resources for the development of the region.” The plan, according to the president-elect, would spend…

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Trump and Environmentalists Are On The Same Wave Length On This One Huge Issue

Donald Trump

by Chris White   President Donald Trump and activists at the Sierra Club apparently have at least one issue in common: neither one of them like the decades-old free trade agreement the U.S signed with Canada and Mexico. Trump’s agenda prioritizing American manufacturing jobs over those in Canada and elsewhere is placing his administration at odds with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Sierra Club has its own reservations, claiming the 26-year-old deal allowed for the off-shoring of jobs and increase in air pollution. The president has continually railed against NAFTA, a trade deal former President Bill Clinton signed in 1993 to free up trade across North America. Trump’s bold and flashy rhetoric has mirrored his broad skepticism over trade agreements in general. He often cites the trade deficit as evidence Europe and others are taking advantage of the U.S. Sierra Club apparently feels the same way, at least in some ways. “They need to know that we do not support Scott Pruitt and we do not support NAFTA,” the group wrote in a press statement railing against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and NAFTA. Their opposition takes a slightly different form than Trump’s complaint. “NAFTA has been a disaster for our communities. Trade agreements…

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Mexican Leader’s Visit with Trump Shelved Over Wall

Mexico and the United States have shelved tentative plans for a visit to Washington by President Enrique Pena Nieto as tensions persist over a proposed border wall, US media reported Saturday. Pena Nieto had already cancelled a visit in January last year because of US President Donald Trump’s insistence that Mexico pay for the wall, which he wants as part of his efforts to curb immigration.

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Commentary: Modernize NAFTA or End It

By Robert Romano   More than any other issue, President Donald Trump’s vow to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or else leave it may have been the most important reason he won the Electoral College in 2016 against his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump won Ohio by about 450,000 votes. In Pennsylvania, Trump only won by 44,000 votes. In Florida, Trump won by only 113,000 votes. In Michigan, Trump only won by 11,000 votes. In North Carolina, Trump won by 173,000. In the rust belt they included states that traditionally voted Democrat. And they’re what put Trump over the top in 2016. These were some of the states hit the hardest by NAFTA. Ohio has lost 290,874 manufacturing jobs since the NAFTA and World Trade Organization (WTO) era began in 1994 and 1995 respectively, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Public Citizen. Pennsylvania has lost 312,338 factory jobs since then. Florida has lost 82,006 jobs in manufacturing. Michigan lost 182,288. North Carolina lost 338,990. Fortunately, since taking office in 2017, President Trump has been working to keep his promise. On April 27, Trump took to Twitter to announce, “I received calls from the President of Mexico…

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US Slaps Tariffs on Canadian Paper Imports

The United States hit Canada with yet another round of punitive import tariffs, this time for as much as 10 percent on paper used to print newspapers and books. The US Commerce Department said in a statement late Tuesday night that the tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper came after an investigation launched in August found Canadian producers receive subsidies giving them an unfair advantage in the US market.

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