Senate Democrats Urge Investigation of Whether New Canadian Dairy Policies Are Unfair Trade Practices
Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin pushed the federal government to investigate whether new Canadian regulations that incentivize their dairy processors to move away from using imported U.S. milk violate NAFTA and/or World Trade Organization obligations, according to a letter they wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (here). The senators accused Canada’s National Ingredients Strategy and Ontario’s “Class VI” pricing program of being designed to “intentionally displace” imports from the U.S. “We are particularly concerned about reports that through these types of programs, Canada is moving to target New York and Wisconsin exports of ultrafiltered milk,” the letter says. “Companies from our states inform us that they have already lost considerable export sales as a result of the Ontario dairy policy introduced this past spring. These reductions in export sales impact dairy manufacturers and their supplying farms in areas of our states that are unfortunately already struggling with depressed milk prices.”
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Ontario’s new pricing policy could “crowd out” New York dairy sales and dissuade Canadian cheesemakers from using imported U.S. ultra-filtered milk in their products, but these U.S. products are currently imported duty-free into Canada, the senators wrote. Canada is also reportedly considering regulatory interpretation shifts that would impact Canada’s cheese standards and a new exclusion of dairy products from Canada’s Duties Relief Program, as a direct attempt to cut U.S. dairy exports, the senators said. Further, the senators urged Froman and Vilsack to “exhaust all potential avenues” to bring Canada into compliance with trade commitments.