Wednesday, February 3, 2021

U.S. farm and labour groups support Canadian dairy industry

A coalition of 18 labour and farming groups is asking the Biden administration to drop a trade action over dairy launched in the final days of the Trump administration, reports a CBC news team based in Washington.


They sent a letter to two people nominated to senior positions in the new administration in advance of their Senate confirmation hearings: agriculture secretary nominee Tom Vilsack, whose confirmation happened Tuesday, and to the nominee for U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai.


That letter, signed by smaller agriculture groups such as the National Family Farm Coalition and the Wisconsin Farmers Union, urges the administration to stop fighting Canada's supply management system.

These groups had previously called for the U.S. to copy the Canadian supply management system.


The overwhelming majority of U.S. dairy farmers and companies remain supportive of the Trump administration’s challenge to the way Canada is implementing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.