US files dairy complaint
The Canadian Press – January 31, 2023 / 11:58 am | History: 409132
Photo: The Canadian Press
Minister of Economic Development, Minister of International Trade and Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion Mary Ng, right, looks on as United States Trade Representative Catherine Tay speaks during a joint press conference in Ottawa, Thursday, May 5, 2022. The United States is filing another formal dispute over what it sees as Canada’s failure to meet its trade obligations to U.S. dairy farmers and dairy farmers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wilde
The United States is launching another formal dispute over what it sees as Canada’s failure to meet its trade obligations to American dairy farmers.
It’s the second time the US has launched such a dairy-led escalation, officially known as a dispute settlement group, in less than two years.
U.S. Trade Representative Catherine Tye says the new panel has become necessary because Canada has so far refused to take the necessary steps to properly address the first one.
That panel ruled in December 2021 that Canada is indeed violating the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in the way it allocates quotas for U.S. dairy imports.
U.S. trade officials and dairy industry advocates say much of those quotas have been allocated to processors, not producers.
The US says the federal government has changed its policies but that the new procedures remain “inconsistent” with the terms of the agreement, known as USMCA in the US and CUSMA in Canada.
“The Canadian government’s revised measures have not resolved the issue,” Tai said in a statement announcing the decision. “Canada made commitments to the United States in the USMCA, and the Biden-Harris administration is making sure they honor those commitments.”
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