The US government has asked for renewed consultations on the ongoing dispute with Canada over its dairy tariff-rate quota policies, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2022) The US government has asked for renewed consultations on the ongoing dispute with Canada over its dairy tariff-rate quota policies, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai said on Tuesday.
"United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today announced that the United States is requesting new dispute settlement consultations with Canada under the United States - Mexico - Canada Agreement (USMCA) regarding Canada's dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocation measures," the USTR statement reads.
According to the new request, Canada will also be challenged on its use of market-share approach for determining the tariff-quota policies, as it currently impedes importers from fully utilizing the TRQ quantities.
The USTR believes that Canada is failing in its commitments as it undermines the market access it has agreed provide to UMSCA signatory States, the statement added - "We remain very concerned by Canada's refusal to honor USMCA commitments," Tai said as quoted by the statement.
Ottawa's TRQ policies discriminate against US dairy industry and its workers, Tai said, adding that all available tools will be used to enforce the agreements in their entirety. The Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack weighted in by adding that ensuring the Canadian market is open to American dairy producers is an important priority of the current administration.
In January 2022, a USMCA dispute settlement panel found Canada's dairy TRQ allocation measures to be inconsistent with Canada's USMCA obligations, requiring Canada to change some of its policies which Washington still considers inconsistent with Ottawa's commitments under the agreement.
In May 2022, the US requested consultations with Canada to address its updated dairy TRQ allocation measure.
