TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2021) Washington will convene a trade dispute settlement panel under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to investigate a clash over dairy exports between it and Ottawa, the US Trade Representative's (USTR) office said on Tuesday.
The United States alleges that Canadian dairy import allocations contravene the trade accord, which went into effect on July 1, 2020, and as such has requested and established the dispute settlement panel.
"A top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration is fully enforcing the USMCA and ensuring that it benefits American workers," USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai said in the statement. "Launching the first panel request under the agreement will ensure our dairy industry and its workers can seize new opportunities under the USMCA to market and sell US products to Canadian consumers."
Washington says that Canadian dairy tariffs rate quotas (TRQs) - allocations for duty-free imports - were reserved for domestic processors, which would undermine the ability of US dairy farmers to export a wide variety of their products north of the border.
Ottawa expressed its disappointment with the decision, with International Trade Minister Mary Ng saying that Canada takes its NAFTA successor pact obligations seriously and is prepared to protect its supply management system.
"Canada is disappointed that the United States has requested a dispute settlement panel... we are confident that our policies are in full compliance with our [USMCA] TRQ obligations, and we will vigorously defend our position during the dispute settlement process," Ng said in a statement.
The standoff over dairy trade is the latest in a line of US-Canada trade disputes, which have either continued or come to light under the Biden administration, despite aspirations in Ottawa for an improvement to bilateral relations, which suffered during former President Donald Trump's time in office.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he welcomes closer cooperation with President Joe Biden on certain issues but also highlighted Ottawa's willingness to defend its interests.
"We have seen with the arrival of the Biden administration that there has been a significant change in the United States' engagement towards international rules-based order, towards multilateralism and, particularly, against climate change... at the same time... we will always defend supply management and our dairy producers amongst others," Trudeau said.
Trudeau added that his government challenged the Trump administration on initiatives and matters that threatened national interests and will be as uncompromising with the Biden administration.
However, since Biden's election, some experts and officials have expressed concern that the Trudeau government is willing to concede on certain Canadian interests, including the Keystone XL extension project, in order to mend bilateral relations.
