The Canadian Wheat Board has won a temporary reprieve in its latest
fight with U.S. wheat growers.
The American commerce department has put off a decision on whether to
proceed with a formal investigation into whether the board is guilty of
dumping subsidized wheat across the border.
The department was to rule Oct. 3 on whether it would launch such a
probe, based on a complaint filed by the North Dakota Wheat Commission
last month.
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Instead, it announced it would delay its decision until Oct. 23.
CWB director Larry Hill, chair of the board’s trade committee, said it
could be a positive signal.
“I would hope it’s because they are looking closely at the facts rather
than the political pressures,” he said in an interview from his farm
near Swift Current, Sask. “I guess it’s a hopeful sign.”
Ellen Huber, an official with the North Dakota commission, said that
while the delay is frustrating, she doesn’t believe it’s a reflection
of the merits of the commission’s case.
“It’s simply to provide them with more time to investigate some of the
technical aspects of the scope of the investigation.”
She said the wheat commission remains confident the commerce department
will proceed with the investigation and that the complaint will be
upheld.
On Sept. 13 the North Dakota farm group filed antidumping and
countervailing duty petitions with the commerce department and the
International Trade Commission, which is an arm of the U.S. government
that applies U.S. trade law.
It wants duties of up to 37.5 percent imposed on imports of Canadian
wheat and durum to offset what it calls subsidies and dumping – selling
below cost of production – by the board and the Canadian government.
While the commerce department put off its decision, the ITC last week
made a start on its role in the investigation. At an Oct. 4 meeting it
began hearing testimony on whether there is a reasonable case to be
made that Canadian wheat imports injure the U.S. wheat industry. CWB
officials were among those who testified.
Hill said it would be no surprise for the ITC to rule in the wheat
commission’s favour.
“It’s pretty easy to say, ‘yes, we should have a thorough
investigation,’ ” he said. “But it would essentially be based on
politics if they did that. They certainly don’t have any facts on their
side.”
Meanwhile, even longtime critics of the board within Canada have
expressed frustration at this latest trade case brought by U.S. wheat
growers, the 10th in the past decade.
Agricore United president Ted Allen said the ongoing American
complaints are politically motivated.
“I personally am no big supporter of single desk selling, but
nevertheless on this issue the Americans really don’t have any credible
evidence to support their contentions,” he said. “I see no evidence of
the wheat board undercutting the marketplace in the U.S.”
Allen said the next round of world trade talks must include measures to
prohibit the kind of “specious challenges” that are being directed at
the board.
