A vote in Washington, D.C., regarding CAFTA is getting closer, area officials told the Herald. Steve Sing, general manager at Sidney Sugars, believes a vote could come by the middle or end of April. Terry Cayko, president of the Mon-Dak Beet Growers Association, feels the vote may come in late April or early May. "If they don't have enough votes, they might not even bring it to the floor," Cayko said. "They don't have enough votes to pass it right now, but there is going to be a lot of pressure to pass it," Sing said. The agreement would allow the Central American countries of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador an increase in their duty-free access to the U.S. sugar markets, and in addition phase out the most-favored nation's tariff, which is the only protection the U.S. sugar industry has against dumped sugar. "It's still way up in the air," Sing said of the vote.

Cayko and Jeff Bieber, secretary of the Mon-Dak Beet Growers Association, met with House of Representatives members concerning CAFTA during the first week of March. Sugar industry officials divided representatives to visit, with Cayko and Bieber visiting with representatives from Pennsylvania and West Virgina. "We didn't have any come right out and say they were in support of CAFTA," Cayko said. "Quite a few were dead set against it." Cayko said he's more confident that CAFTA would fail in the House than in the Senate. "The Senate is known to be more free traders." Reports say U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg are firming against CAFTA.

Officials, however, hear that U.S. Sen. Max Baucus is now leaning toward voting for the free trade agreement. "We're trying to get him (Baucus) to see it's important to keep us here," Sing said. "That doesn't speak well for Montana," said Russ Fullmer, agriculture manager at Sidney Sugars. Barret Kaiser, spokesperson for Baucus, said the senator hasn't taken a position on CAFTA. "He's working to make the agreement better for Montana," Kaiser said. Kaiser explains the senator is the highest ranking Democrat on the finance community and many consider him an expert on international trade policy. "He wants to make sure he keeps his strong bargaining position on the table," Kaiser said. "At the end of the day, he will do what he feels is best for Montana." "It won't be good if a democratic senator from Montana votes for it when Republicans are going against the administration,"

Cayko said. Fullmer said CAFTA could lower the cost of sugar, lower allotments, and lead to other trade agreements, which would hurt the sugar industry. "Eventually, it could kill the industry if they aren't careful," Fullmer said.

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