Leaders look to new political era, hope for immigration reform

At the threshold of a new administration led by President-elect Joe Biden, industry lobbyists speaking at The Packer’s West Coast Produce Expo on Nov. 12 gave their best hopes for a Democrat-led White House.

Issues that are important to the industry include immigration reform, expanded trade and continuing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is too early, industry leaders said, to predict how Biden will approach those challenges, and if he will be successful.

Rearview mirror

President Trump brought uneven results for the industry in trade and immigration issues, said Dave Puglia, president and CEO of Western Growers.

“Any conversation (in the produce industry) about what was achieved or not achieved by President Trump, or via Congress, starts with ag labor,” Puglia said. “In that respect, it’s a mixed bag.”

Western Growers hopes the next president will “lead the way to that elusive victory that we’ve been seeking for so long that will provide us a stable workforce,” which Puglia said will be built on improving the H-2A program and also providing a legal pathway to existing undocumented workers.

Puglia said he hopes Biden will drive momentum for immigration towards the political center. Known as a moderate for most of a Senate career that began at age 29, Biden may have an opportunity to accomplish it, he said.

“He has an opportunity, if he chooses to take it, at least on the issues around immigration, (and) run to the center,” he said. “That would be our greatest hope.”

Even though Trump was able to push through some H-2A reforms, Puglia said the moves weren’t enough to solve long-term issues.

“The Trump administration had all kinds of internal conflict about where they thought they should go on immigration policy generally,” he said. “I think they were swept up in that.”

Puglia said he hoped the H-2A improvements made under Trump officials would stick with a Biden administration.

Trump was well-liked by growers for his stance against regulations, Puglia said, and Biden may change directions on H-2A reform when he takes office.

Trading up?

Puglia said Trump’s record on trade was “mixed at best.”
“I think for our members, USMCA is generally regarded as a positive improvement upon NAFTA, not a wholesale change to NAFTA, but some improvements,” he said.

Trump’s trade war with China has caused pain for growers, but Puglia said nearly all Western Growers members supported the president in the fight.

“This was a fight that had to happen and China has to be brought back in line with the rest of the world,” Puglia said. “It is not a uniform opinion, but you find a majority (of growers) who view this outgoing administration favorably.”

Legacy

Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association, agreed that Trump’s anti-regulatory stance has been received positively by the industry. 

He also credited Trump and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for creating the Farmers to Families Food Box Program and the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program for growers.

“They have really tried very hard, the USDA in particular, to try and make these programs work for our industry,” he said. “I will say that the administration stepped up when they didn’t really, in my opinion, have a lot of expertise in our world.”

While the Trump administration didn’t put special trade protection for seasonal produce in the USMCA trade deal, Trump is now investigating blueberries in the context of protecting U.S. growers. 
That trade investigation will be “kicked down the road” to the Biden administration, said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas.

“It puts some pressure on the U.S.-Mexico relationship,” he said. “Whereas we thought and hoped that USMCA would result in more cooperation or transparency between countries, right now we’re like, Oh, we just got married, and now we’re fighting again; that’s not where we want to be.”

Jungmeyer said that FPAA’s best hope for a Biden administration would be for the U.S. to de-escalate the trade rhetoric and to de-escalate provocations toward U.S. allies.

Failing Trump’s legal challenges and assuming that Biden takes office in January, Guenther said United Fresh hopes there will be more stability in trade negotiations by a new administration.
“Unlike the Trump administration, where they did a lot of things on their own, a Biden administration will probably try to coordinate their efforts in pressuring China to become more of a fair trading partner,” he said. A Biden administration may finish up work on U.S. trade deals that Trump started with the European Union and the United Kingdom

Beating COVID-19

In the next administration, Guenther said a Biden White House should build on what has been done so far by President Trump and Congress to help the industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think what the administration has done thus far sets up a good foundation for our industry to continue to recover,” he said. Whether through direct payments, or a continuation of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, Guenther said Trump and the USDA have “set the foundation.”

Now, he said, more focus is needed is on infrastructure improvement that contributes to the human and economic health and safety of produce companies and farm workers.

Extending the Paycheck Protection Program would be valuable in the next stimulus bill, Guenther said, 

Likewise, Puglia said that lifting the payment cap in the CFAP program would help growers, along with funds to help growers provide needed protection equipment to their workers.

Another piece of the puzzle, he said, is funding for emergency housing to help accommodate the isolation of farmworkers exposed to the virus.

Jungmeyer said the Nogales industry and city and state officials are working hard to prevent another surge in COVID-19 cases in southern Arizona..

“The reason we are so aggressive with this is because earlier in the year, Nogales was one of the hot spots in the country.” He also said government agencies such as the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration must work to protect their employees, which are essential for inspections at the border.

“We strongly believe that every agency needs to have a plan B,’ he said.

The panel said agricultural workers must be near the front of the line to receive a vaccine when it becomes available.