CFU to President Bush: Don’t Trade Away America’s Farmers
TURLOCK, CA (July 16, 2008) – California Farmers Union (CFU) President Joaquin Contente joined National Farmers Union President Tom Buis today in calling on President Bush to accept no trade deal, rather than a bad deal that does not level the playing field for America’s farmers and ranchers during next week’s World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Geneva.
In a letter to the president, NFU said the goal of simply achieving a deal should not trump reaching an agreement that is good for American agriculture.
“The proposals under consideration for the Doha round do not address some of the biggest factors impacting America’s family farmers - the lack of labor, environmental and health and safety standards in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. Leveling the competitive playing field for American producers should be a top priority and we cannot support a trade deal that does not accomplish this goal,” Buis said.
Buis urged negotiators to consider how agreements will affect farmers and consumers given the ever-changing economic environment.
“We are in a new era that requires new thinking,” Buis said. “The agriculture economy is vastly different today than when this round of discussions was launched in 2001. We simply cannot afford to continue a trade agenda that encourages a race to the bottom of commodity prices, which benefits a handful of international traders, not farmers or consumers.”
NFU is also concerned by the insistence of United States trade negotiators to decouple the domestic safety net from production and market prices in favor of fixed payments.
“This ill-conceived safety net has been tried in the past and it was the most devastating and expensive farm policy in our nation’s history. To continue to pursue a decoupled policy would jeopardize our nation’s ability to continue to produce the safest, most abundant food in the world,” Buis said.
CFU Commends Pelosi for Efforts to Curb High Energy Prices
TURLOCK, CA (July 16, 2008) – California Farmers Union (CFU) President Joaquin Contente joined National Farmers Union President Tom Buis in commending House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her continued leadership in addressing America's energy crisis and efforts to help Americans affected by record high energy prices.
In a letter to Speaker Pelosi NFU specifically thanked Pelosi for her call on the president to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
“California producers are struggling today due to an unprecedented increase in energy costs,” explained CFU President Contente. “We applaud Speaker Pelosi’s leadership in proposing actions that will provide relief to producers who are unable to pass on their every increasing input costs,” he concluded.
"America's farmers and ranchers echo your call to the president and most certainly agree that at today's energy prices, our country is entrenched in an emergency," NFU President Buis said.
The SPR currently holds more than 700 million barrels of oil and releasing a small amount would provide immediate relief to America's farmers and consumers. Past experience has proven that an immediate reduction in gas prices will be a direct result of opening the SPR.
Pelosi's action is one of many she has taken to provide relief to America's farmers and consumers.
"Your call to the president combined with a comprehensive energy tax package, legislation to address market speculation and continued focus to develop renewable energies will all prove beneficial to reducing our dependence on foreign oil and becoming on energy independent nation," Buis said.
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