PLANT CITY, Fla. — Without trade relief, Florida’s strawberry industry could be gone in a decade.

• Growers: Deal to replace NAFTA has no protections for farmers
• Mexico imports of strawberries have increased over past decade
• Fla. growers want restrictions, tariffs on Mexican imports

That was the warning from Florida growers last week on Capitol Hill. They say President Donald Trump’s re-negotiated trade deal to replace NAFTA offers no protections for Florida farmers.

“President Trump stood at the state fairgrounds last summer and said how he wanted to keep his promises and make good on trade issues, and he was going to stand with us, and it just didn’t happen in (negotiations),” said Kenneth Parker, Executive Director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association.

Parker traveled to Washington D.C. to testify to the International Trade Commission. Before congress votes on the U.S. Mexico Canada Trade agreement, he hopes protections can be added for Florida growers.

Mexico imports of strawberries to the U.S. have increased fivefold over the past decade. The Mexican government subsidizes about half that production. It costs less to import strawberries from Mexico than it does to grow them in Florida.

“It’s an unfair playing field,” Parker said. “When the Mexican growers are being subsidized by their government, that is an issue for us. It’s not fair. In the absence of relief measures, you will see multi-generational farms being sold, going out of business. You would see the evaporation of a $1 billion economic driver in Plant City.”

Florida growers want restrictions and tariffs on Mexican imports. The Mexican government has pushed back. They claim Southeastern growers have not kept up with agricultural innovations and have hurt their own bottom lines.

Additionally, agriculture companies in Oregon and California have invested in Mexican growing operations. That could make it tougher to pass trade restrictions on imports from Mexico.