Washington Resorts To DC Advertising

Washington State's potato industry, being harmed more than any other U.S. state over unfair trade in potatoes with Canada, put its money where it might help the most.

Monday the Washington State Potato Commission placed an ad in the "Roll Call," a newspaper on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The ad is headlined: "Trade With Canada Not Free or Fair For U.S. Spuds."

Copiess of the ad were being circulated in the potato industry and agricultural communities as an attempt to draw attention to the problem.
 
"If NAFTA was supposed to permit open and free trade between the U.S. and Canada, it's not working for Washington State and U.S. potatoes, " the first paragraph read.

"For the last several years, unfair Canadian duties and special permit requiements have dramataically restricted Washington State and Northwest potato farmers from exporting potatoes across the border.

"Yet at record levels, Canadian potatoes and potato products have been coming into the U.S. free of such encumbrances.

It continues, "The financial effects are more than dramatic. The U.S. is now a net importer of fries.

"Without equal treatment, the survival of potato producers in Washington State and the U.S. may very well be at stake."

"It's time to defend an important American industry and level the playing field that now clearly handicaps the home team."