FARGO, N.D. - Sugar producers in the Red River Valley are bracing for an intense campaign from backers of a proposed trade agreement with Latin American countries that passed in the Senate.

The Central American Free Trade Agreement is expected to come up for vote in the House by the end of the month.

"It's going to be a very close fight," Fargo-area farmer Mark Nyquist said after a meeting of sugar producers here Wednesday. "If we don't get this vote, it could be a slow, painful death after that."

Sugar producers believe CAFTA would lead to a flood of cheap foreign sugar that would hurt prices in the United States. Opponents also believe the deal could open the door to similar trade agreements with other countries.

"We're just asking that things be left the way they are, at no cost to any other industry," Nyquist said.

Supporters say the agreement would increase exports and add American jobs. In a statement following the Senate vote, President Bush said the agreement would be "good for American workers, good for our farmers and good for small businesses."

The Senate deal included concessions to protect the sugar industry, including a program to look at a sugar-based ethanol initiative. The offer is "totally inadequate" because it's set to expire in less than three years, said James Horvath, president of American Crystal Sugar Co.

"It puts a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage," Horvath said. "It's a very short-term solution to a very long-term problem."

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., called the White House deal "the setup of all time" because it pays other countries not to send sugar to the United States.

"I don't think that's going to go over well with the American people," Conrad said.

Horvath said support for the agreement is lacking in the House, but Conrad told the group to expect a "full-court press" from CAFTA supporters in the next two weeks.

"As long as they don't have the votes, they have to negotiate," Conrad said.

Conrad said he has voted for five of seven trade agreements that have come up since he was elected to Congress. The result has been a record trade deficit that hit $617 billion last year and is expected to go up 20 percent this year, he said.

"Like I told my colleagues, I don't know if we can stand many more of these successes," Conrad said.

Conrad said the six CAFTA countries - Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua - have a combined economic impact of Columbus, Ohio. That's not enough to help the U.S. economy, he said.

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