Recently, Administration officials, including Johanns, have cited projections from the American Farm Bureau Federation suggesting that CAFTA would increase U.S. agriculture exports by $1.5 billion. However, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent federal agency, has suggested that the potential increase in exports from CAFTA would be less than a fourth of that, closer to $328 million.

In a letter sent today, Peterson asked Secretary Johanns to explain why he and other Administration officials chose to use the numbers created by the American Farm Bureau Federation instead of those provided by the ITC.

"It is inappropriate for the USDA to promote economic projections created by a private group with an obvious political agenda, while ignoring the estimates provided by an independent federal agency," Peterson said.

Congressman Peterson said that the various economic projections that American farmers and politicians are hearing from government officials are both confusing and misleading.

"CAFTA is no different than past trade deals, and farmers are once again being promised the moon," Peterson said.  "Unfortunately, these inflated projections always come up flat. Just like with NAFTA, CAFTA will leave American farmers with nothing but unfulfilled promises."