(NOTE: This is a shortened English-language version of op-ed column that was originally published in Spanish language on January 20, 2019, in NotiCel – https://www.noticel.com/opiniones/blogs/en-blanco-y-negro-con-sandra/bajo-amenaza-los-cupones/981872966)
As an economic and political colony of the United States, we have to understand Americans. And right now, the lack of understanding by Governor Ricardo Rosselló’s administration is affecting us. It is clearly seen in the public controversy regarding a $600 million additional allocation of funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP).
President Trump has denied the special allocation claiming it was excessive, and Rosselló publicly has asked for a meeting with him resolve the dispute. What the Island’s government and politicians are failing to acknowledge is that American businesses are facing a disloyal competition in Puerto Rico and it is affecting social services on the Island.
An example is the car sales market. About 107,000 cars were sold in Puerto Rico in 2018. Of those, American cars did not even reach 25%. The other 75% are imported vehicles, mostly Korean and Japanese. The Trump government, in its mentality, sees that and analyzes it as Puerto Ricans continue to buy outside of the United States. The same thing happens in agriculture and that is why Trump's attitude towards granting us additional SNAP funds.
Trump’s strategy is to protect those who brought him to power. While Trump concentrates on his wall and insists on leaving the federal government closed, the focus on public opinion is his stubbornness, his racism and his problems in the campaign. They do not see that he is seeking to protect markets in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, and agriculture, especially in the states that are his electoral base and brought him to power.
SNAP was created to subsidize agriculture in the United States. The idea is to consume what the American farmers produce to subsidize their production and their economy, but here in Puerto Rico, what do we do? We buy rice from China, meat from Nicaragua and Costa Rica, pork from Canada, coffee from Mexico, fish from Vietnam, evaporated milk from Peru, chicken from Chile, soybeans from Brazil, yautía from Ecuador, yams from Colombia, tomatoes from the Dominican Republic and so on. As a colony, the government wants the master's money and begs for more funds saying we are American citizens, but that money is spent on buying outside of the United States. That does not the American way.
Local distributors, looking for savings and profit margins, have diversified their imports to supposedly be able to sell cheaper products here. That could look great for the consumer, but it is detrimental to the interests of the United States. At the end, USA gives us the money, and therefore, it is detrimental for ours. By not paying a little more to buy the American, everything is lost. That is Trump's vision.
Let's go to a bigger example: rice. Since last year, the issue of what Puerto Rico buys from China dominates the front pages in specialized media in the agricultural field. In July 2018 AgFax reported that Puerto Rico became the axis of the escalation of tensions the trade dispute between the United States and China over rice imports. This news story was almost lost in the Island’s media who focused its attention on a rumor that started on social media about plastic rice imported from China. A video of that supposed rice was widely seen by locals. The story was vehemently denied by businessman from Panamerican Grain, which sells the Arroz Rico rice brand.
But Bobby Hanks, president of the Committee on International Rice Trade Policy of the United States and miller of Louisiana, said that the drastic increase in imports of Chinese rice was detrimental to Americans. "While our focus remains on opening the Chinese market, it is difficult to accept at the same time that China has access to the US domestic rice market, especially now that Chinese rice imports into Puerto Rico are increasing," he said.
Puerto Rico is a traditional market for medium grain sold by producers in the southern states of the United States, but since 2016 they are concerned that continued shipments from China could displace long-term US shipments. China's imports tripled to 12,000 metric tons in 2017 and imports from January to May 2018 increased 81% compared to the same period of 2017. The main rice producers in the United States affected by Chinese imports to the Port Rico are in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas, according to USA Rice.
To this, we must add that in February 2018 Trump proposed cutting SNAP funds and replacing part of them with packaged food sent by mail to families that received $90 or more in food stamps. It would be something similar to the old PRERA here in Puerto Rico. The idea, which they called "America's Harvest Box" was that instead of sending money for people to buy the food they want, they would eat food selected by the government.
Those boxes of food would reach 16 million households with food grown in the United States, juices, canned meat, and beans. Trump’s idea was to cut over $200 billion in the budget and avoid fraud since food stamps are used to buy other things. That fraud is estimated at $858 million annually. His proposal faced opposition from many sectors, including the supermarket industry which in the United States whose sales are estimated at $840 billion and almost 8% of these sales are to SNAP recipients. Walmartalone receives one-fifth of all sales of food stamps.
On January 2, it was reported that China exceeded the agricultural aid it should receive from the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Chinese government buys crops if the price falls to a minimum announced by the government. This inflates the price of several Chinese products, creating artificial incentives for Chinese farmers to increase production. This process has harmed American farmers.
In that sense, if Rosselló wants the Trump administration to approve more funds, he must guarantee that 100% of what they will buy with these federal funds is from Americans. After all, we cannot forget that the food stamps are agricultural subsidies. That is what the Puerto Rican government or the distributors here do not want to understand, putting the permanence of the food stamps at risk in the long term.
Looking closely, we can conclude that Rosselló’s government behaves like the typical colony. He wants to the US to continue sending the money, but at the time of spending it, behaves as an independent country buying outside the metropolis. It is ironic that being a pro-statehood he does not understand American mentality. This is the psychosis and the contradictions in the US colony of Puerto Rico.
REFERENCES:
1. Trump dice 'NO' a fondos adicionales para el PAN en PR (NotiCel) https://www.noticel.com/economia/trump-dice-no-a-fondos-adicionales-para-el-pan-en-pr/979379508
2. Rosselló espera que una reunión resuelva los problemas con Trump (NotiCel) https://www.noticel.com/ahora/gobierno/rossello-espera-que-una-reunion-resuelva-los-problemas-con-trump/979540342
3. Aumenta la venta de autos en la isla (El Nuevo Dïa)
4. Arroz Rico desmiente rumor de que venden arroz plástico (NotiCel)
5. González Freyre se declara culpable (Primera Hora)
6. Rice: U.S.- China Trade Dispute Heats Up on Rice Imports (Agfax)
7. Trump wants to cut back on food stamps for the poor and substitute with packaged food deliveries (CNBC)
8. Ag Feels the Effects of Government Shutdown (USARice)
9. China Admits Exceeding Agricultural Domestic Support Limits (USARice)