U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says he’ll initiate official consultations with Canada to examine the administration of its dairy tariff rate quota obligations. National Milk Producer Federation’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and International Trade Jaime Casteneda says Canada has been violating the USMCA deal they signed and not allowing proper access for U.S. dairy.
He says consultation is the first step in initiating enforcement action on the USMCA trade agreement. Casteneda also says the amount of market access the U.S. is seeking with this consultation is minor compared to full and totally free trade access.
Casteneda says even though Canada has a supply management dairy program, the U.S. isn’t asking them to change that but to follow the trade pact they agreed to.
The U.S. Dairy industry concerns with Canada have been echoed by a broad bipartisan coalition of members of Congress.
