Trump Vows to Help Dairies and Canada Denies Responsibility

Trump Vows to Fix Wisconsin Dairy Situation

At a recent stop in Wisconsin to discuss job creation, President Donald Trump vowed to support Wisconsin dairy farmers in their trade dispute with Canada and possibly make big changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. A Milk Business Dot Com article quotes the President as saying “We’re using every tool at our disposal to restore the American dream. We’re going to stand up for Wisconsin dairy farmers.” Trump has been discussing the situation with his advisers and says he plans to demand fair trade from all our trading partners, including Canada.

A recent letter from Wisconsin officials to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross noted that Canada’s new targeted milk pricing programs have made it very difficult for Wisconsin dairy producers to get their product into the Canadian market. “We are greatly concerned that the new pricing programs violate their trade obligations with the United States,” the letter adds. Trump promised a group of leaders that a group including Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, several senators, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan would get together to figure it out. “We’re going to get together, call Canada, and ask them what happened,” Trump promised the crowd. He promised big changes to NAFTA or says it might be time to get rid of it once and for all.

Canada Responds to Dairy Trade Disagreement with U.S.

Canada’s Ambassador to Washington told the Associated Press this week that Donald Trump is wrong when he says that Canada’s dairy industry trade practices “are very unfair.” David MacNaughton wrote a letter to the governors of Wisconsin and New York to let them know Canada is aware of their request to the president for help with Canada’s dairy practices. “Canada does not accept the contention that its dairy policies are the cause of financial loss for dairy farmers in the United States,” he said. He attached a USDA dairy outlook report to the letter, which he says clearly indicates that the poor performance in the dairy sector is due to U.S. and global overproduction.

Canada recently decided to impose import taxes on ultra-filtered milk, which is used to make cheese. It had been imported tax-free but Canada changed direction after dairy farmers there complained. About 70 percent of dairy farmers in Wisconsin and New York are affected by the policy change.  The U.S. dairy lobby accuses Canada of disregarding its trade obligations while the Canadian industry accused the U.S. of scapegoating.

Source;  NAFB News