HM 1863 2003
1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the President and Congress of the United
3	States, urging the President and Congress, in negotiating
4	any new international trade agreement, to retain the
5	existing tariff on orange juice imported to North America
6	in order to promote fair trade in North America and ensure
7	that North American orange juice producers will not be
8	subjected to any additional adverse economic impact
9	resulting from importation of orange juice produced
10	outside North America.
11
12	WHEREAS, for more than 100 years the citrus industry has
13	been a vital part of Florida’s economy, providing substantial
14	economic, tax, and environmental benefits to the state, annually
15	generating more than $9 billion in sales, employing nearly
16	90,000 Floridians, and maintaining invaluable green space
17	throughout the state, and
18	WHEREAS, orange juice is one of the world’s most important
19	agricultural commodities, with Florida and Brazil producing the
20	majority of all orange juice consumed in the world market, and
21	Florida producing 90 percent of the orange juice consumed in
22	North America, and
23	WHEREAS, the existing orange juice tariff is critical for
24	the survival of Florida’s citrus industry in that the tariff
25	effectively levels the playing field for North American orange
26	juice producers and those who import orange juice produced
27	outside North America, fairly compensating for the competitive
28	advantages enjoyed by Brazil and other foreign producers that
29	are subject to fewer regulatory controls, less restrictive
30	environmental laws, and lower labor costs, and
31	WHEREAS, any reduction in the orange juice tariff that may
32	result from negotiated international trade agreements would not
33	promote the expressed goals of free trade and would reduce
34	competition, diminish consumer benefits, and impair overall
35	industry growth, NOW, THEREFORE,
36
37	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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39	That the Florida House of Representatives urges the
40	President and Congress of the United States, in negotiating any
41	new international trade agreement, to retain the existing tariff
42	on orange juice imported to North America.
43	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
44	dispatched to the President of the United States, the President
45	of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States
46	House of Representatives, and each member of the Florida
47	delegation to the United States Congress.
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