West Coast trade lockout will hurt Washington ag

Washington state just became the epicenter of a new trade war — a war that started by our own state — and has since spread to the entire West Coast.

In late August, while most people were vacationing, six states joined Washington in an effort to block the development of trade export facilities that would potentially benefit our state’s second largest industry: agriculture.

As we all know, our french fries, cherries, wheat and apples are coveted the world over. But now those prized commodities — along with many other Washington products – could find it tougher to reach foreign markets.

That’s because of another commodity: coal.

While this terminal would initially be used to ship coal from states like Montana and Wyoming, it would eventually provide significant relief to growers looking to get their products to market.

So in August, six states — California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Oregon — filed a “friend of the court” brief arguing in support of Gov. Inslee and his administration’s move to block development of an export terminal in Longview.

The Millennium Bulk Terminals project is sponsored by Utah-based Lighthouse Resources. And as it stands now, the governments of the entire West Coast — Washington, Oregon and California — are actively opposing additional access to export capacity for landlocked states looking to export energy commodities to foreign markets.

Six other inland states — Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Kansas and Nebraska — contend this is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. They’ve filed their own friend of the court brief in support of Lighthouse and the terminal project.

As a longtime member of the agricultural community, I cannot tell you how deeply troubling all of this is to me.

Washington state is the most trade-dependent state in the nation, with one in four jobs here tied to trade. What’s more, agriculture is the second largest industry in our state, generating $10.6 billion in annual revenue from 39,500 farms and ranches. We provide more than 164,000 jobs to the Washington state economy.

It’s a gross understatement to say we are deeply dependent on the strength and competitiveness of our export facilities. And yet here we are, leading the charge to block the development of a key terminal simply because one of the commodities being shipped is coal.

Yes, today, it’s coal. Tomorrow, though, it could be any other commodity that runs counter to the prevailing political culture. The Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) gives Congress the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states.” It is one of the most important federal powers over the states, prohibiting states from restricting the ability of other states to trade freely, while also ensuring that the U.S. is a reliable trading partner.

We’ve entered very dangerous territory here. If Washington state is allowed to discriminate against commodities based on political ideology, what’s to stop another state from doing the same thing to us?

Washington ranchers, growers, orchardists and farmers, along with their families and employees, work hard to bring the world’s best products to tables around the world. This is one trade war we can’t afford to wage — or lose.