SASKATOON — Canada will take retaliatory trade action if the U.S. unilaterally blocks imports of Canadian wheat.
Using some of his toughest words yet on the wheat trade dispute between the two countries, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said the Americans should realize that any sanctions against Canadian wheat will have serious consequences.
“Canada will not roll over and play dead,” he told reporters March 28. “If we are the target of restrictive or punitive actions which we believe to be unjustified, we will have no alternative but to defend ourselves vigorously and aggressively in every conceivable way possible.”
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Goodale said he still believes the issues in dispute can be resolved through negotiations and a trade war can be avoided. But at the same time, Ottawa is getting ready to respond to any U.S. action.
“We are reviewing our options and preparing our plans if those plans become necessary,” he said.
It’s reasonable to expect that any retaliatory trade action by Canada would involve agricultural products, he said.
“We will focus our attention on those sectors in the U.S. that are as sensitive to them as the sectors that they focus on are to us,” he said.
Goodale last met with U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Espy March 21. After that meeting both sides said some progress had been made but no settlement was in sight.
U.S. farm groups and politicians have been pressing the administration to take emergency action to block imports of Canadian wheat without waiting for the results of an International Trade Commission investigation now under way.
At the same time, U.S. food companies are demanding greater access to Canada’s supply-managed sectors and want limits put on imports of Canadian sugar and peanut butter.
Goodale said he expects to talk to Espy this week and more meetings might be scheduled. He said Canada has made it clear to the agriculture secretary that any trade sanctions will invite retaliation.
“Whether the U.S. officials have heard that point or not, it’s hard to tell,” he said. “If they’ve missed it up to now, perhaps they had better listen a little more carefully.”
