Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Exports to Canada and Mexico Threaten Entire U.S. Economy

By Bruce Cochrane

The past president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association warns the entire U.S. economy will be impacted if the U.S. fails to resolve Canadian and Mexican concerns over Mandatory U.S. Country of Origin Labelling.

Last month, just prior to the August recess, two proposals were introduced in the U.S. Senate to address concerns over Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling, one which would repeal labeling requirements for beef, pork and poultry, and one that would replace mandatory labeling with a voluntary program that would require labels to detail where animals were born, raised and slaughtered to be considered domestic meat.

Iowa Pork Producers Association past president Jamie Schmidt says, in the event Canada and Mexico are authorized by the World Trade Organization to impose retaliatory tariffs, it will be more than just the meat industry that will be impacted.

Jamie Schmidt-Iowa Pork Producers Association:
They'll target products totally unrelated to meat to try to get their point across that some damage is being done and they want to get it fixed and we all want to get it fixed.

Our number 2 and our number 3 exporters that we export to are being affected by this measure and we, as a pork industry, really can't afford to have our better customers not want our product and we need to have it resolved.

We are working with our Congress people, in the Senate and in the House and it is our aim to get this resolved in a way that we can continue to have product flowing back and forth so that producers in Iowa, in the United States and in Canada and Mexico can all benefit by having open trade between our countries.

Schmidt suggests a complete repeal of the labeling provisions for beef, pork and poultry in the Senate, similar to the bill passed by the House of Representatives, would be the simplest resolve.

Source: Farmscape