Canada dairy tariffs unfair: US agri chief

Washington, Aug 25 (IANS) US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has accused Canada of imposing tariffs of up to 300 per cent on some American dairy products, saying Washington would continue pressing for fair market access for its farmers amid heightened trade tensions between the two neighbours.

Rollins said President Donald Trump had repeatedly raised concerns about Canada’s treatment of American dairy producers and believed existing trade arrangements had not provided the access they were intended to deliver.

“The President has been very clear for the last year and a half that the way they treat our dairy farmers in America is just not. It is not going to continue any longer,” she said.

“Canada is applying sometimes a 200 and 300 per cent extra tariff on milk and dairy products going into Canada,” Rollins said.

The agriculture secretary declined to discuss the negotiations in greater detail, saying she did not want to get ahead of Trump or US Trade Representative Jason Greer, who she said was in the middle of the talks.

Rollins said the administration was working to open markets across the world while ensuring that US agricultural producers were treated fairly by trading partners such as Canada.

The dispute has caused unease across rural America because farmers and ranchers face considerable uncertainty, she acknowledged.

“There is no doubt that it causes concern amongst our farmers and ranchers, as it is a lot of unknown out there,” Rollins said.

She argued, however, that agriculture had remained a central part of the administration’s trade negotiations. Each of its 20 new trade agreements addressed agricultural products such as soybeans, cotton, beef or dairy, she said.

Rollins described Canada and Mexico as important US trading partners. She said Trump’s approach had highlighted several challenges within the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, particularly those affecting farmers and ranchers.

The agriculture secretary also defended Trump’s decision to allow the temporary import of 300,000 metric tonnes of ground beef for 90 days. She said the measure was designed to address a gap in the supply chain rather than weaken domestic cattle producers.

Americans consume about 13 million metric tonnes of beef annually, with roughly 11 million metric tonnes produced domestically, Rollins said. The country normally imports between two million and three million metric tonnes each year, primarily lean or ground beef.

The supply shortage was partly linked to Washington’s decision to halt imports of live Mexican cattle after the New World screwworm moved towards US border states and cattle-producing regions, she said.

The restriction, imposed about 14 or 15 months ago, prevented approximately one million cattle from entering the United States, according to Rollins. The first port in Douglas, Arizona, reopened to live cattle movements on Monday.

She estimated that the temporary ground beef imports announced by Trump represented between 500,000 and 700,000 cattle. That would still not fully replace the volume lost during the border closure, she said.

Rollins also cited the administration’s efforts to expand grazing land, rebuild the US cattle herd and procure more locally produced, nutrient-dense food for school meals.

“We are in this to support our ranchers and our farmers, and we will make sure that we are doing everything necessary to rebuild the herd,” she said.

–IANS

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