John Miller is preparing to fill out yet another questionnaire.
And once again, he says, the information he provides will exonerate the Canadian Wheat Board.
Miller is president of Miller Milling Co., chair of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and a spokesperson for the North American Miller’s Association.
Last week he testified in Washington before an International Trade Commission panel investigating the wheat board’s pricing and trading practices.
The North Dakota Wheat Commission has complained that the board routinely sells wheat at prices well below market levels in order to undercut American sellers.
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Miller told the commission that it seems like he’s been filling out forms and answering questions about the CWB from various American government agencies on an annual basis for the past 20 years.
During that time he has consistently told anyone who asks that the board is a fair and honest trader.
“In every case my testimony and the data I have provided confirms that Canadian durum is offered to us at prices reflecting the price of durum in our U.S. market,” he told the ITC.
“If the Canadians are selling durum at less than market prices or better than market terms, I’m not getting any of it.”
The North Dakota group’s complaint focuses on CWB sales to overseas markets. But it has asked the government to impose restrictions on imports of Canadian wheat, something Miller said would have dire consequences for his company and the 44 other millers represented by NAMA.
He said American millers buy Canadian durum not because of special pricing deals, but because the United States doesn’t produce enough durum of the quality that pasta makers require.
The association provided data to the ITC indicating that in each of the last 15 years U.S. durum production has fallen short of domestic demand, and quality has been insufficient to meet industry needs.
“Canadian durum is a necessary supplement to U.S. production of high quality durum, especially in years where adverse weather or farmer crop choices further reduce supplies of high quality durum,” said Miller.
The miller’s association says even if the board is engaging in unfair trading practices in overseas markets, it makes no sense to respond by imposing restrictions that would damage the U.S. milling and food manufacturing industry.
