A group of 67 dairy companies and associations urged U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai to initiate a dispute settlement case with the Canadian government over its dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) administration if ongoing consultations and a U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Free Trade Commission meeting do not result in immediate resolution.
The USTR started consultations with Canada in December, 2020, over its TRQ policies.
Several months post-consultations, it is not readily apparent that progress has been made on resolving Canada’s circumvention of its trade obligations, the U.S. dairies said.
In a letter sent to Ambassador Tai, the U.S. dairy industry urged USTR to establish a Dispute Settlement Panel in the event there is not an immediate, positive resolution emerging from the consultations that begin soon.
