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RESOLUTION URGING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP TO EXPEDITIOUSLY RENEGOTIATE THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA), WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION GIVEN TOWARDS ADDRESSING THE SIGNIFICANT DISPARITY IN AGRICULTURAL LABOR COSTS BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE UNITED STATES

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WHEREAS, viable agricultural production is vital to a secure and healthy community; and
WHEREAS, agriculture in Miami-Dade County and southern Florida is essential to the health, safety and food security of the entire United States, providing a significant source of our country�s fruits and vegetables during the winter months; and
WHEREAS, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force on January 1, 1994 and is a treaty signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America with the goal of removing barriers to the exchange of goods and services among the three countries; and
WHEREAS, while it was predicted that NAFTA would create a trade surplus for the United States of between $9 billion to $12 billion and create 170,000 jobs per year in its first five years, NAFTA has instead resulted in more than two decades of growing trade deficits with Mexico and Canada and massive job losses in the agricultural and manufacturing trades; and
WHEREAS, according to the Economic Policy Institute, by 2013 the NAFTA trade deficit had already equated to an estimated net loss of roughly 850,000 United States jobs; and
WHEREAS, in 2016 the United States trade deficit with other NAFTA countries was $172,995,603.00; and
WHEREAS, NAFTA has benefited large agribusiness corporations over family farmers in all three nations, failing to address the very real problems of price volatility for producers and consumers alike, while damaging livelihoods in rural communities at home and abroad; and
WHEREAS, indeed, farmers in South Florida have faced a dramatic loss of revenue from unfair competition and trade practices following the passage of NAFTA, which has led to a significant loss of cropland in Miami-Dade County dedicated to growing food; and
WHEREAS, moreover, inequitable trade policies established by NAFTA have significantly lowered prices received by farmers while still not benefiting consumers with lower retail prices; and
WHEREAS, Mexico retains a significant advantage over Miami-Dade growers with dramatically lower production overhead than in the United States, primarily due to a significant disparity in labor costs; and
WHEREAS, provisions in NAFTA intended to address these issues, including floor prices, have not provided competitive balance due to �dumping� of low-cost product, nor have wages or working conditions improved in Mexico; and
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles Times, in a four part expose, recently outlined the deplorable working conditions and slave wages of farmworkers in Mexico�s fields that compete directly with South Florida producers; and
WHEREAS, by failing to condition trade benefits on countries enforcing strong labor and environmental standards, NAFTA incentivized corporations� offshoring of jobs and exploiting of workers across North America in a race to the bottom, and firms that remained in the United States faced unfair competition from imports subsidized through social dumping; and
WHEREAS, President Donald Trump has stated that his administration will renegotiate NAFTA to the benefit of American producers; and
WHEREAS, this Board would like to urge President Trump to expeditiously renegotiate NAFTA, and in doing so to pay particular attention towards addressing the significant disparity in agricultural labor costs between the United States and Mexico which has caused many farmers in South Florida to lose tremendous market share to low-cost Mexican produce,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges President Donald Trump to expeditiously renegotiate NAFTA, with particular attention given towards addressing the significant disparity in agricultural labor costs between the United States and Mexico.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the President of the United States and the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation.
Section 3. Directs the County�s federal lobbyists to advocate for the action set forth in Section 1 above, and authorizes and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to amend the 2017 Federal Legislative Package to include this item.