Thousands of pages of documents defending the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing practices are flowing south to Washington, D.C.
“It’s huge,” said spokesperson Maureen Fitzhenry about the amount of paperwork needed to defend the wheat board against claims it is hurting U.S. farmers by dumping wheat in the American market.
“It’s a lot of paper. We’ve sent down truckloads.”
The American commerce department is investigating whether the wheat board is selling wheat to U.S. buyers at below the cost of production, which would be considered dumping in U.S. law.
Read Also
USDA’s August corn yield estimates are bearish
The yield estimates for wheat and soybeans were neutral to bullish, but these were largely a sideshow when compared with corn.
The decision on whether to impose tariffs on Canadian wheat and barley sold into the United States was to have been made by July 15, but has now been pushed back to Aug. 28. A decision on how much American farmers have been hurt by the wheat board is scheduled to be made on Oct. 13.
Fitzhenry said pushing back the date reveals the complex and demanding nature of the investigation.
“They call it the granddaddy of all trade litigation,” said Fitzhenry. “One of our lawyers says it is similar to a tax audit from hell.”
More than 40 officials have been involved in putting together the board’s information, explaining prices sale by sale, revealing how the board finances its operations, and describing how its government guarantee works.
