Dairy industry urges USTR to initiate dispute settlement case to address Canadian TRQ allocations
Several months post-consultations, it is not readily apparent that progress has been made on resolving Canada’s circumvention of its trade obligations.
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 in December 2020 with Canada over its TRQ policies as part of its obligations under USMCA, a step that the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) said they strongly supported. Several months post-consultations, it is not readily apparent that progress has been made on resolving Canada’s circumvention of its trade obligations. 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 in the consultations.