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.
