Friday, June 7, 2013

Canada posts retaliation list for COOL


Trade Minister Ed Fast has posted a list of products from the United States that could face new Canadian tariffs if the U.S. persists with its violation of world trade rules and keeps its mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations in place.

Canada’s national organizations representing beef and pork producers indicated their approvals for Fast’s tough stand.

“The release of the list . . . is a clear indication of how determined Canada is to see COOL fixed,” said Canadian Pork Council president Jean-Guy Vincent._

The World Trade Organization has ruled that the U.S. COOL regulations unfairly discriminate against beef and pork from Canada and Mexico.

The U.S. responded to the World Trade ruling with new regulations that Canada and Mexico deem even worse, and which face outspoken criticism from U.S. companies that say they will increase their costs by $50 to $140 million a year.

Canadians have undertaken economic impact studies which indicate that for pork alone, the cost to Canadians has amounted to more than $1 billion.

The list released by Fast includes cattle,  hogs, beef, pork, cheese, apples, cherries, rice,  prepared meals, maple syrup and maple sugar, corn syrup and sweeteners, chocolate, pasta, bread and pastries and cakes and biscuits, potato salad, frozen orange juice, tomato ketchup and sauces, sugars, peptides, stainless-steel tubes and pipes, jewelry, grape wines, iron and steel grinding balls, swivel seats with variable height adjustment, wooden office furniture and mattresses.

The Canadian list will require World Trade Organization approval as appropriate retaliation for what the U.S. has done.

It’s typical in these types of cases that countries pick items that will generate maximum political pressure.

Canada could soon face similar retaliation for Ontario’s (Feed-in Tariff) FIT energy program that discriminates against imported parts for solar and wind projects to generate electricity.

Japan and Europe filed and won that complaint to the World Trade Organization and then lost an appeal, leaving that issue at the stage where Canada could face retaliation.