They are harvesting pears in the Wenatchee Valley. From this small area, not much more than 20 miles long, will come half the fresh pears produced in the Northwest. The valley is the most prolific producer of pears in the United States, and one of the top pear-growing areas in the world. The growers of pears here are exceptionally productive people, but this year politics, protectionism and powerful and distant special interests will take some of their income away.

No one knows how much, but it could be substantial. The United States once exported 13 percent of its pear crop, worth about $60 million, to Mexico. But this year, Mexico has imposed a 20-percent tariff on pears and dozens of other U.S. products, in retaliation for the U.S. failing to honor its commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. said it would allow Mexican truckers to deliver and pick up goods in the United States, just as Canadians do. That promise was never kept — American truckers and their Teamsters union bitterly opposed it — and early this year Congress squashed even a small pilot program with a little-noticed clause buried in an omnibus spending bill. Mexico, fed up, imposed retaliatory tariffs.

Some of the victims are gearing up for harvest today. The Northwest pear crop this year is big, perhaps a record 19.8 million boxes. Large crops ordinarily put downward pressure on the price paid to growers, the supply-and-demand balance being easily tipped. It is possible to sell large crops profitably, if there is enough demand for the product. Losing a third of their largest export market to a tariff will not help. The Northwest Horticultural Council estimates the potential cost to growers at $6.1 million, but markets are precarious, and it will be difficult to gauge the impact. The pear growers no doubt are mindful of what happened to cherry growers this summer, when a huge crop overwhelmed the market demand and brought substantially lower prices. For cherry growers, this summer was widely described as a catastrophe. Mexico imposed its tariff on cherries, too.

A solution requires a U.S. concession — some kind of program to allow Mexican trucks into the United States, even if just a few, with severe limitations. Such a program has been promised since the day the stealth trucking clause was discovered in the spending bill, but Washington’s wheels turn slowly. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has promised a new proposal for months. Bloomberg.com reports that LaHood is “sharing a set of principles about the truck dispute with the Mexican government and with members of the U.S. Congress.” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a speech “LaHood is trying to shop those principles to both sides.” The Washington Times reports that LaHood’s plan has completed “bureaucratic review” and will next go to Congress. President Obama, at last month’s North American summit, told Mexican President Felipe Calderon that he will see the dispute resolved.

Pick up some speed, please. Every week that goes by with the tariffs in place is taking money from local pockets. The economic implications are severe, particularly in a recession when every dollar in trade is precious. The financial waves are spreading across the country. Grapes, strawberries, apricots, frozen potatoes and other commodities are losing their valued share of the Mexican market. Dozens of other industries are hit. Losses in manufacturing will be measured in billions. Jobs will be lost, and no one knows how many.

It is a high price to pay to protect union truckers from a tiny bit of competition, just a few dozen Mexican trucks. It must take strong political connections to have the United States default on its obligations in an international treaty for your benefit, especially when it comes at the expense of so many others.

It will take political will to reverse that damage. We should hope, as we watch our neighbors harvest their crop, that someone in Washington has it.

Tracy Warner’s column appears Tuesday through Friday. He can be reached at warneratwenworld.com or 665-1163.