U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce Votes to Protect N.M Jobs, Prevent Canadian and Mexican Trade Retaliation

Statement

Today, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce issued the following statement on the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments (COOL) Act, H.R. 2393, which passed the House yesterday by a bipartisan vote of 300-131:

"Yesterday, I voted with my colleagues to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken products. Repealing COOL will both protect the U.S. economy, and even more importantly, protect New Mexicans' jobs," stated Pearce. "After speaking with New Mexico ranchers about both the burdensome labeling requirements and the negative impacts their businesses would experience under the threatened tariffs, the decision to repeal the Country of Origin Labeling requirements became critically important."

"Four times since the creation of this damaging labeling requirement, the World Trade Organization has ruled COOL violates our trade obligation with Canada and Mexico by negatively impacting the competitiveness of livestock sales and trade in U.S. markets. After the WTO's fourth and latest ruling in May of this year, Canada and Mexico threatened to impose retaliatory measures on the United States if COOL requirements were not ended. For New Mexico alone, we could see retaliation tariffs on $96 million worth of exports. At a time when the U.S. Commerce Department recently released a study showing that New Mexico is ranked No. 1 in export-related job growth, we cannot afford to place these badly needed jobs at risk by restricting access to our neighboring nations' markets."

Pearce continued: "New Mexico's history and heritage of ranching has long had deep and close ties with Mexico's. More so than in many other states, the imposition of COOL has impacted more than just jobs in New Mexico; it has impacted our state's heritage. I commend Chairman Conaway and the House Agriculture Committee for acting quickly to bring this bill to the House Floor, and urge our Senators from New Mexico and their colleagues to quickly pass this legislation to protect the economy and New Mexico's ranching heritage."

The COOL Act amends the Agriculture Marketing Act of 1946 to effectively repeal mandatory country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and chicken, while leaving in place the requirement for all other covered commodities. Moreover, the COOL Act does not change, in any way, current food safety inspection requirements. For more details on H.R. 2393, click here.

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