LOS ANGELES, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Cooperated with the U.S. Apple Association, Farmers for Free Trade, a leading agriculture trade lobby group, placed advertisements on cable television Wednesday, urging the White House to "end the trade war."
In the advertisement that runs online and on cable news channels including Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, Mark Boyer, part-owner of an orchard in Fishertown of Pennsylvania describes how current trade disputes ignited by the United States with its major trade partners are damaging export markets for American farmers.
"The U.S. apple industry does depend on exports," Boyer says in the 30-second spot. "Without certainty in foreign markets, why would you invest in equipment, why would you invest in anything? The stakes are high. People will lose their jobs."
The ad cites words from Fox News and Wall Street Journal, saying "American farmers fear they will pay the price of Trump's trade war," and U.S. apple exports are particularly prone to be hard hit by retaliatory tariffs.
The ad also reminds Trump of the agriculture community's support for him and urges him to "end the trade war and support free trade."
The spot is the third in a series of Farmers for Free Trade spots that highlight the negative impacts of protectionist trade policies on farmers and rural communities.
Farmers for Free Trade is a bipartisan group co-chaired by former U.S. senators Max Baucus and Richard Lugar and supported by National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Producers Council, American Farm Bureau Federation and other major agriculture organizations.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service (NAFB) released the ad video and cited words of Jim Bair, U.S. Apple Association president and CEO, "Our numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6th largest export markets are already impacted or threatened."
"That hurts not only growers but also thousands of affiliated jobs in small-town America. We need these disputes to get resolved amicably and quickly," Bair said.
Farmers for Free Trade director Brian Kuehl told NAFB that the "situation is going from bad to worse," considering Mexico, Canada and China are all important export markets for U.S. apple.
Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S. apple industry has quadrupled its exports to Mexico and doubled its exports to Canada with combined purchases of nearly 450 million U.S. dollars per year.
In addition, since the U.S. apple industry achieved full access to the Chinese market in 2015, the apple exports have grown to 2.5 million boxes per year and China is the U.S. apple industry's sixth largest export market.
