American farmers are launching trade challenges against Canadian
farmers because Canadians are beating them in the marketplace and
because they do things differently, says Canadian Federation of
Agriculture president Bob Friesen.
“These challenges come because on many fronts we outcompete the U.S.,”
said Friesen after a debate with the president of the North Dakota Farm
Bureau in front of the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters
Association.
“We don’t like the U.S. just looking for excuses.”
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During the debate, Friesen highlighted what he considers examples of
American trade harassment.
Friesen said the leader of a national American hog producer
organization recently told him that his group was thinking of launching
another trade challenge against Canadian hog producers. The reason: the
American herd is not growing, but Canada’s has expanded by 25 percent.
Friesen also attacked the North Dakota Wheat Commission’s trade
challenge of the Canadian Wheat Board.
“Call off the dogs in the U.S.,” said Friesen.
Eric Aasmundstad, president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau, said he
was not an expert on the wheat commission’s challenge of the wheat
board, but his organization supports it.
“We’d like to see some transparency. I think that would go a long way,”
said Aasmundstad. “Does that exist? Some would say it does. Some would
say it doesn’t.”
Aasmundstad said he doesn’t think the wheat commission’s trade
challenge is unfounded, but he raised doubts about whether it is likely
to be successful.
“I think there is a case of some sort,” said Aasmundstad.
“But is it an enforceable case? I have to wonder. Because in my mind if
it was, the United States Trade Representative would have come down a
lot harder than they have.”
Friesen said American farmers often lobby for trade challenges
regardless of the evidence.
“I don’t think there’s necessarily always a good reason for their
challenges,” said Friesen.
The American government has been happy to channel money to farmers and
to support the challenges as a means of driving others from the
marketplace, said Friesen. The subsidies allow American farmers to
survive amid low commodity prices, which are partly created by the
subsidies themselves, and the challenges allow the American government
keep foreign goods out of their market.
“It’s a long term strategy, I believe, of cross subsidization as well
as buying international markets,” said Friesen.
He attacked the American government for undermining new crops grown by
Canadian farmers who are trying to avoid the subsidy wars. Adding some
pulse crops into the U.S. farm bill shows the American government is
acting in a predatory manner.
Aasmundstad said his organization opposed the inclusion of new crops in
the farm bill. He said the government’s hope was to protect prices to
help farmers, but in practice the government has destroyed each market
in which it has interfered.
