NPC updates convention on fight to get U.S. fresh potatoes into Mexico
SUN VALLEY, IDAHO — The fight to get U.S. fresh potatoes into all of Mexico continues amid signs that the Mexican potato industry is shifting tactics to deflect imports, Kam Quarles told attendees at the Idaho Grower Shippers Association 93rd annual convention on Sept. 3.
Providing an update on the 20-year quest to win full fresh potato access to Mexico, Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, also updated attendees on immigration reform, infrastructure legislation, and possible strategies by Democrats to get beyond a very narrow majority in Congress to advance their agenda.
Mike Wenkel, COO of NPC, also spoke to attendees about potential Congressional legislation on climate change and industry leadership in sustainability initiatives. Wenkel also provided an update on fundraising progress of the Potato Leadership, Education and Advancement Foundation, which was founded two years ago.
Slim margin
Quarles said the narrow Democratic majority in Congress will be a point of contention in coming weeks and months and could prevent progress on major legislation.
The Senate has a 50-50 split between Republican and Democrats, with the tie-breaking vote, if necessary, provided by Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, the Senate rule to invoke cloture, or to stop debate on any legislation, requires 60 votes. The rule has existed since the early 1800s, Quarles said.
“Everyone in the minority loves it because it means that the majority can’t run over the minority; the (majority) has got to get some votes from the minority,” he said. “Every majority hates it because you can’t run your agenda like you want.”
Democrats in the Senate are looking at options to get around cloture. One of those options would be to just change the rule to allow a simple majority to pass any bill.
Another option is what is called reconciliation, which is effectively a budgetary mechanism that allows legislation to pass with only 50 votes, with Harris acting as the tiebreaker.
“These are really the two options that are out there and we’ve probably never been closer to just outright changing the rules so that the majority leadership can run their agenda,” he said. “The 60-vote rule does ensure that at least both sides are personally invested in introducing the legislation,” Quarles said.
If cloture is eliminated, he said that will make legislation “purely partisan.”
“I don’t think the outcomes are going to be great for the country at large (if the rules are changed),” he said.
Quarles said Democrats in the House of Representatives also have an incredibly narrow margin.
“There are 535 seats in Congress and it’s basically five seats, a swing of five seats controls not only the House, but both (houses of Congress); we never had a narrower majority.”
Trade with Mexico
U.S. potato interests in April received an emphatic ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court, Quarles said. Mexico’s highest court voted 5-0 to dispense with Mexican potato industry objections to expanded U.S. fresh potato access in Mexico. Currently, U.S. fresh potatoes can only be distributed with 26 kilometers of the border.
Quarles said the National Potato Council and other U.S. potato interests are working through the remaining legal process, in addition to working to reinstate U.S potato access through the regulatory process.
Quarles said it appears Mexican potato growers want to shift the battlefield from the courts to the regulatory environment.
Mexican potato growers funded increased government inspections of U.S. potatoes within a week of the supreme court ruling in April, Quarles said. The increased industry-funded inspections, which he said are unprecedented in agricultural trade, could constrain the U.S. industry’s ability to access the Mexican market.
“We are going to need to press very hard on that,” he said, noting companion efforts by Potatoes USA.
“We have a great legal team in Mexico, who has been working through all of this with us, and we’re going to need (them), because this battle is not going away,” Quarles said.
Congressional leaders have backed the U.S. potato industry in the fight, he said.
“We don’t want to just get temporary access, we need (access) to be durable,” he said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also have been supportive, he said.
In more than three decades working in ag policy, Quarles said he has never seen the level of consistent engagement for a single commodity in the ag sector as he has seen with the U.S. fresh potato access in Mexico.
Immigration reform
Quarles also talked about the path ahead for immigration reform, which he said must include provisions for existing undocumented workers, the guest worker program and enforcement provisions.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House, and now the question is what the Senate will do with the legislation.
Some in agriculture feel the bill doesn’t go far enough and that presents a political challenge, Quarles said.
One of the complicating factors is that Democrats may want to attach immigration legislation to a reconciliation bill. That may solve some problems but likely would leave out reforms to the H-2A guest worker program, he said.
Quarles also touched on the progress of infrastructure legislation.
“For an industry that’s transporting heavy cargo either domestically or internationally, we need competitive industry infrastructure and we’re happy that this truly is a bipartisan package that is moving through Congress,” he said.
However, Quarles said House Democrats want tax increases as part of a larger infrastructure bill.
“We’ve been pushing back pretty hard on that,” Quarles said, noting that the NPC has gone on record against any change in treatment of estate tax provisions.
Sustainability and climate change programs built on voluntary participation
Wenkel discussed climate change and sustainability topics.
He said the NPC is working with the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance, which includes leaders from both agriculture and environmental groups.
A key goal of the NPC is to make sure that whatever climate change or sustainability programs are developed stay voluntary.
“We (also) want to make sure that those programs can also recognize the uniqueness of specialty crops,” he said.
In addition, Wenkel said that any money allocated to climate change or sustainability should not displace funds for potato industry research. The NPC is working with the Potato Sustainability Alliance on sustainability, he said.
“The (alliance) is really focused on telling the really good story that we do in potato production,” he said.
“I think we’ve got a great story in the fact that, for the most part, every potato gets utilized in the system in some way, and that’s a great thing to be able to talk about.”
