USMCA a mixed bag for Florida

December 23, 2019

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNS) — Overall, Florida stands to win big if the new United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement clears the finish line in Congress, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce. However, one of Florida’s largest industries didn’t get everything it had hoped for in the deal the U.S. House of Representatives passed on Friday.

With the House approving the trade agreement, business groups in Florida are breathing a sigh of relief.

“This helps to ensure that those trade wars can stop. That tariffs are not going to overly burden Floridians and hit them in the wallet,” said Edie Ousley with the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

The two border countries are both in the top six international buyers of Florida exports.

Florida exports about $58 billion worth of goods and about $48 billion in services each year.

“When you think about jobs, more than 2.5 million Floridians are actually employed in international trade,” said Ousley.

But not everyone is happy.

Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried tweeted Thursday expressing her disappointment about how added protections for Florida farmers didn’t make it into the final product.

"It's deeply disappointing that seasonal protections were not included in this #USMCA legislation. Florida remains committed to continuing our fight through all available channels to protect our vital seasonal produce industry, and to put Florida’s and America’s farmers first,”said Fried.