The Canadian government is condemning what it sees as a failure by the United States to meet international trade agreement demands that country-of-origin rules be changed to make them less protectionist.
It is threatening a billion-dollar retaliation.
As they have for months, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and trade minister Ed Fast said Canada will consider tariff retaliation against U.S. imports since the U.S. did not make appropriate changes by the May 23 deadline.
However, any retaliation is months away. Arguments at the World Trade Organization will be necessary to convince a trade dispute panel that the U.S. response is inadequate before retaliation can be implemented.
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After a World Trade Organization ruling last year that U.S. mandatory rules requiring identification of product country-of-origin were protectionism rather than consumer education, it said the U.S. had to revise COOL rules by May 23 to comply with the ruling.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued revised rules May 23 that Canadian government and industry representatives quickly rejected.
“Canada is extremely disappointed with the regulatory changes put forward by the U.S. today with respect to COOL,” the ministers said in a May 23 statement. “These changes will not bring the U.S. into compliance with its WTO obligations. These changes will increase discrimination against Canadian cattle and hogs and increase damages to industry on both sides of the border.”
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Martin Unrau called the American reaction “extremely frustrating.”
The Canadian Pork Council accused the U.S. of flouting the WTO in an action that was “shocking and appalling.”
In Washington, the USDA issued a statement proclaiming its tweaking of COOL regulations a full compliance with international trade obligations. Its rules will require meat packers to list the origin of beef, pork and chicken in products to be sold in U.S. grocery stores.
“USDA remains confident that these changes will improve the overall operation of the program and bring the mandatory COOL requirements into compliance with U.S. international trade obligations,” U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement issued in Washington.
The statement included an endorsement from COOL proponent National Farmers Union president Roger Johnson. “We are very pleased that the USDA has decided to stand strong and keep COOL.”
CCA president Unrau said the U.S. claim of compliance is absurd.
“It will require additional segregation by eliminating the ability to co-mingle cattle of different origins. The CCA estimates that this amendment will increase the impact of COOL to about $90 to $100 per head.”
