But he said he will take advantage of the World Trade
Organization’s permission to apply tariffs of up to $1,055 billion on U.S.
products if the Americans fail to get rid of the discrimination.
“We would rather not have to engage in retaliatory measures,
but we certainly will, to stand up for our farmers, to stand up for Canadians
who have been unfairly addressed and affected by this legislation,” Trudeau
told reporters.
“We will continue to make sure that this gets fixed and
we’re going to work with Americans, or against them, to make sure that it
happens.”
The American politicians have been told that nothing short
of scrapping the legislation will satisfy Canada’s beef and pork producers, but
U.S. Secretary Tom Vilsack continues to talk about continuing COOL on a
voluntary basis.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced Thursday that it
will not be taking any futures contracts on Canadian cattle and hogs, limiting
contracts to animals born in the United States.
It said it’s taking that action because it’s not yet clear
what the Senate will do.
Congress has already passed a bill to repeal COOL
legislation, but the Senate has yet to vote on a similar proposal from Senate
Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts, who is a Republican.
Former agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and now the
Conservatives’ agriculture critic called for immediate retaliation with tariffs
imposed on a long list of products developed by the former Harper
administration.
