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After a year-long battle, Congress passed the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) last month by just a two-vote margin.

With a 217-215 vote, the House passed the trade agreement, which will eliminate most tariffs – some as high as 43 percent – between the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. More than 99 percent of these nations' products already enter the United States duty-free under other agreements, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

"Passage of CAFTA-DR is a clear win for Ohio agriculture, an industry that exports 25 percent of its products and, until passage of this bill, has been facing unequal access to these markets," said Constance Jackson, vice president of OFBF's agricultural ecology. "This agreement now allows our producers to operate on a more level playing field in the CAFTA-DR markets."

Because the vote was too close to call, OFBF continued to lobby just hours before the House took up the measure. CAFTA-DR is expected to result in a $23 million yearly increase for Ohio agriculture once it is fully implemented in 2024. AFBF economic analysis shows that full implementation of CAFTA-DR will result in $1.5 billion per year in agricultural exports to the trade region.

About 1,400 Farm Bureau members contacted their lawmakers (see map) to emphasize the need to pass CAFTA-DR and board members Randy Leis, Brent Porteus, Chuck Lausin and Jeff Zellers traveled to Washington, D.C. to talk with members of Congress, according to Adam Sharp, OFBF's director of national affairs. OFBF also worked on getting radio interviews and opinion pieces printed in newspapers on the importance of passing CAFTA-DR.

In Ohio, all six Democrats – Sherrod Brown, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan and Ted Strickland – voted against CAFTA-DR. Ohio Republicans voting in favor were John Boehner, Paul Gillmore, Michael Oxley, Deborah Pryce, Ralph Regula, David Hobson, Steve Chabot, Steve LaTourette, Pat Tiberi and Mike Turner. Bob Ney was the only House Republican to vote against it. Ohio Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine also voted for CAFTA-DR.

"We want to thank field staff and farmer members for the hard work in generating numerous contacts to all congressional offices on this important issue for Ohio agriculture," Sharp said. "We appreciate all the Ohio congressional delegation that voted for CAFTA. We recognize that this was a difficult vote, and we appreciate that they saw through the rhetoric and recognized that CAFTA-DR will help Ohio's economy and specifically the agricultural industry."

House Democrats were largely opposed to CAFTA-DR because of labor concerns, and only 15 voted for it. Some Republicans balked at supporting CAFTA-DR, citing concerns about the import of cheap, subsidized imports from China. But the House passed a bill just before the CAFTA-DR vote that was aimed at pressuring China to change its trade practices.

The U.S. sugar industry also opposed CAFTA-DR, saying it would cause a flood of sugar on the market. But CAFTA-DR is expected to have a minimal effect on the $2.1 billion domestic industry and protections were added to help the sugar industry, according to AFBF.