Armed with facts and figures, the Potato Growers of Alberta are prepared to fight the latest American trade investigation on their industry.
In April, they plan to travel to Washington to prove Canadian potatoes are more expensive only because they’re better.
“If there are any price differences it’s because we have higher quality and lower production costs,” said Alan Stuart, manager of the potato growers in Calgary.
In January, the U.S. International Trade Commission launched a fact-finding mission on the competitive conditions affecting Amer-ican and Canadian fresh and processed potatoes.
A decision on the ITC 332 investigation will be made in July. Stuart hopes Canadians will come away from the trade investigation “without any further trade barriers.”
Alberta exports 60,000 tonnes of seed potatoes to the U.S. each year. Demand for Canadian seed potatoes increases each year because of lower disease and higher vigor, he said.
“They demand our potatoes because of the quality.”
