(Washington, D.C.) Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) praised an announcement by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood that the Administration will be moving forward with a proposal to negotiate an end to the Mexican tariffs on agricultural products in Washington state and across the country. LaHood called Murray earlier today and she urged him to move quickly to implement the proposal. Murray also called on the Mexican government to immediately end their tariffs now that a proposal has been put forward.

“I am glad that the Administration is moving forward with a plan to finally end the devastating Mexican tariffs on Washington state agricultural products,” said Senator Patty Murray. “I have been working closely with farmers and growers across Washington state to fight against these unfair tariffs that are killing jobs and hurting the local agricultural industry. Now that this proposal has been put forward, I am strongly urging the Mexican government to end their harmful tariffs immediately and allow our farmers to once again compete on the level playing field they deserve”

Click here for information on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposal.

• On September 28, 2010, Murray brought Secretary LaHood to Washington state to meet with local growers so that he could hear first-hand about the devastating effects Mexican tariffs are having on the state’s agriculture industry.

• On July 26, 2010, she included language in a key Senate spending bill that calls on the administration to put forward a plan that would end retaliatory tariffs on Washington state agricultural products by October 1, 2010.

• On May 28, 2010, Murray sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him move forward with a plan to end Mexican tariffs that have had a devastating impact on the Washington state agricultural industry. Murray sent the letter after President Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. During the meeting, the two presidents discussed the tariffs Mexico has placed on U.S. products. Mexico has targeted eighty-seven Washington state products in this dispute and hundreds of jobs have been lost.

• Prior to the meeting between President Obama and Mexican President Calderon, Senator Murray sent a President a letter urging him to use the meeting as an opportunity to work to end Mexican tariffs that have had a devastating impact on the Washington state farmers and families.  She has also spoken with senior White House officials to reemphasize that point.

• On May 4, 2010 Senator Murray met with the Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan to discuss the impact of Mexican tariffs on Washington state families, jobs, and agriculture industry. Murray urged the Mexican government to end the retaliatory tariffs that are harming Washington state families, and to use Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s upcoming visit to Washington, D.C. as an opportunity to resolve the differences.

• In early March, at a hearing of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Murray pushed Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to move faster on a plan to resume cross-border trucking with Mexico, urging him to resolve the situation to save American jobs while ensuring the safety of the public at large.

• In October 2009, Senator Murray hosted a meeting between Washington state farmers and Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari to make sure he understood the local impact of the retaliatory tariffs.  In April of that year, she joined a bipartisan Senate letter to the Obama Administration urging the end of these punitive tariffs.