In May, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office initiated the second USMCA dispute regarding Canadian dairy tariff-rate quota policies.  The TRQs deny allocation access to eligible applicants, including retailers, food service operators, and other types of importers, and impose new conditions on the allocation and use of the TRQs.

Wisconsin Representative Ron Kind said it’s a matter of getting Canada to comply with the terms of USMCA.

“We've been having some problems with them complying with the terms of the trade agreement that we struck with them a couple of years ago. And it's all black and white language, they know what they need to do. They’ve been hedging their bets, but I'm glad the Biden administration is treating this seriously. They are enforcing it the way it's supposed to be. That was one of the reasons it took a little longer to get the Mexico-Canada-U.S. trade agreement finalized, is making sure we had strong enforcement language in it so that these terms would mean something. And that's what we're using right now to get Canada to comply. They know what they need to do, and I expect that the end of the day, they'll get there.”

Should the issue escalate, the Wisconsin democrat said there are several actions the U.S. can take.

“We have trade remedies, we can hit them with some sanctions, specifically targeted to their industry and some tariffs that are available to again under the terms of the trade agreement, so that there should be no surprises, that if you're not complying. And we're not at that step yet, we're still in earnest discussions with them as they say, but we hope to get this resolved shortly."

While the United States prevailed in its first USMCA dispute, the USTR says Canada’s implementation measures and other actions have moved Canada further away from full compliance with its obligations under the trade agreement.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com

More From PNW Ag Network