Senate Bill sb2792

    Florida Senate - 2003        (NP)                      SM 2792

    By Senator Argenziano





    3-669-03

  1                     Senate Memorial No. ____

  2         A memorial urging the President of the United

  3         States and the Congress of the United States,

  4         in negotiating any new international trade

  5         agreement, to retain the existing tariff on

  6         orange juice imported to North America in order

  7         to promote fair trade in North America and

  8         ensure that orange juice producers in North

  9         America will not be subjected to any additional

10         adverse economic impact resulting from

11         importation of orange juice produced outside

12         North America.

13  

14         WHEREAS, for more than 100 years, the citrus industry

15  has been a vital part of Florida's economy, providing

16  substantial economic, tax, and environmental benefits to the

17  state, annually generating more than $9 billion in sales,

18  employing nearly 90,000 Floridians, and maintaining invaluable

19  green space throughout the state, and

20         WHEREAS, orange juice is one of the world's most

21  important agricultural commodities, with Florida and Brazil

22  producing the majority of all orange juice consumed in the

23  world market, and Florida producing 90 percent of all orange

24  juice consumed in North America, and

25         WHEREAS, the existing orange juice tariff is critical

26  for the survival of Florida's citrus industry in that the

27  tariff effectively levels the playing field for North American

28  orange juice producers and those who import orange juice

29  produced outside North America, fairly compensating for the

30  competitive advantages enjoyed by Brazil and other foreign

31  producers that are subject to fewer regulatory controls,

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2003        (NP)                      SM 2792
    3-669-03




 1  less-restrictive environmental laws, and lower labor costs,

 2  and

 3         WHEREAS, any reduction in the orange juice tariff that

 4  may result from negotiated international trade agreements

 5  would not promote the expressed goals of free trade and would

 6  reduce competition, diminish consumer benefits, and impair

 7  overall industry growth, NOW, THEREFORE,

 8  

 9  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

10  

11         That the Florida Senate urges the President of the

12  United States, in negotiating any new international trade

13  agreement, to retain the existing tariff on orange juice

14  imported to North America.

15         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be

16  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the

17  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the

18  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of

19  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.