Tai Addresses Dairy Issues Between U.S./Canada

The dairy industry has expressed frustrations with our neighbors to the north. Many American producers allege Canada is trying to limit imports of U.S. dairy products, despite the updated USMCA. So now, the U.S. dairy industry is pressing the Biden administration to start a dispute settlement case with Canada. During a recent House hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, New York Congressman Thomas Reed wanted to know how dairy talks with Canada are progressing.

“How those consultations are going, and if the consultations are not going positively, from your perspective, when can we expect some type of additional actions to hold Canada to the terms of the USMCA agreement.”

“I have raised this issue with my counterpart in Canada on my first call with her," said Representative Tai. "I will continue to raise this, and we will be conducting assessments at USTR in terms of what the next best steps are. And, as I have said to other members, and I’m very happy to commit to you, the tools that are in the USMCA are in there for a reason, they were to make the NAFTA better, and they are to make this agreement work.  And, we must use those tools, because we have them.”

A group of 67 U.S. dairy firms and organizations recently wrote Tai, asking her to start a USMCA dispute settlement case if months of talks fail again. The American producers says Canada is reserving the bulk of quota access for its own processors.

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