We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Terms and Cookie Policy
Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, April 19, 2024
The first thing U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack did after the U.S. lost its second USMCA dairy battle with Canada was vow to keep on fighting – reminiscent of statements released by U.S. lawmakers and U.S. dairy groups, but that fight may be at an end after two exhaustive legal fights that both ended in a decision by a three-member dispute panel.
The U.S. lost its latest dispute with Canada over the country’s operation of a tariff rate quota for dairy imports under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to a Friday announcement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The Biden administration has made it clear it won't use the 14-nation Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity to negotiate lower tariffs on American ag exports, but U.S. officials insist there are plenty of non-tariff trade barriers to be resolved, and U.S. farm groups’ hopes are high as talks continue this week in San Francisco during a seventh round of negotiations.
The European Union has been on a mission for the past decade to ban the foreign use of food names like bologna, gruyere and feta cheese, depriving U.S. producers of markets around the world, but a bipartisan roster of lawmakers has stepped forward to try to curb the EU campaign.
When U.S. consumers want gruyere cheese, they’re seeking a kind of cheese and not demanding that it was produced in the Alpine regions of France or Switzerland. That’s essentially the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which ruled that gruyere is a generic name that can be used by U.S. cheese makers.
U.S. trade officials are now armed with new knowledge as they enter their second battle with Canada over its restrictions on dairy trade: Even in losing, Canada can win.
The United States is consulting again with Canada over complaints that the country is manipulating its dairy import quotas and restricting access to its market, but U.S. senators are now demanding the Biden administration take the next step of calling for a second dispute panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday left open the possibility of retaliatory tariffs against Canada for again making what the U.S. sees as an unacceptable proposal to alter its dairy quota system.
It’s been three weeks since Canada submitted its proposal to fix the way it runs its dairy quotas under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but there’s still no word from the Biden administration on accepting it and preventing yet another trade dispute between Ottawa and Washington that could affect far more than just dairy.
