The United States dairy industry will probably try again to muscle its way into the Canadian market, according to Ted McKinney, a former undersecretary at U.S. Department of Agriculture and currently chief executive officer of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Speaking to the Canadian Agri-Food Automation & Intelligence Network Feb. meeting in Ottawa, he is quoted by e-dairy news saying “how (the) dairy (deal) was implemented here has really not set well.”
He said he hopes to a see dispute resolution that will provide American farmers with something closer to what they thought they were getting with the Trump trade deal.
“We’re hoping the system will show whether we were right or we were wrong. Maybe there was a misjudgment,” said McKinney.
He urged Canadians to take the issue seriously and resolve it so it doesn’t bring other areas of trade into jeopardy.
The trade deal gave the U.S. dairy industry access to 3.5 per cent of the Canadian market, but the U.S. has complained that Canada’s administration of low-tariff quotas is frustrating them.
The online news outlet also cited an interview with Kyle Larkin, exectuve director of Grain Farmers of Canada, who said the Canadian dairy industry’s insistence on maintaining trade barriers is frustrating deals that would benefit other farmers, including negotiations with the United Kingdom which walked out of talks because of Canada’s refusal to allow any cheese from the U.K. into Canada.
