HALIFAX, N.S. – An American farm leader says U.S. farmers only support
the country’s position in new world trade talks because they think it
is a way for them to gain greater access to foreign markets, including
Canadian supply managed sectors.
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told
the annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture March
1that U.S. farmers would be willing to consider lowering their domestic
supports if other countries give more access to American products.
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In a later interview, he said Canada’s dairy and poultry sectors
protected by supply management are a particular target.
“The supply management systems that exist around the world are only
maintained through high tariffs and restricting access for other
countries’ products. So it will be a tradeoff. A country cannot expect
to maintain its own policies and yet gain access to or diminishing
other countries’ policies.”
He said American farmers see “a very strong linkage” between tariff
reductions by other countries and U.S. domestic subsidy reductions. He
referred specifically to high Canadian butter tariffs.
“The only reason we are supporting the overall U.S. proposal is that it
does link increases in market access and decreases in tariffs to
decreases in domestic subsidies,” said Stallman. “We are not going to
unilaterally disarm. We’re not going to decrease our domestic supports
without seeing other movement, whether on reducing or eliminating
export subsidies or reducing tariffs.”
The president of the largest American farm lobby said U.S. negotiators
also plan to target the Canadian Wheat Board and other state trading
enterprises during talks.
And he said those who argue American farm subsidies are on the rise are
wrong. They have been declining and even with a new farm bill, will be
lower than in the past.
“We are abiding by our WTO (World Trade Organization) obligations,”
said Stallman.
CFA president Bob Friesen reacted angrily to the American trade agenda.
He said the Americans want to be able to leave their subsidy levels
high while eroding the right of other countries to protect their
markets from unfair cheap competition.
“They want to still be able to buy the market share they want,” Friesen
said in an interview. “I think this time both grains and oilseeds and
the supply management sectors have reason to be nervous about the
American agenda at trade talks.”
Earlier, Friesen had confronted Liberal MPs at the CFA convention with
his suspicion that the Liberal government may not understand high
tariffs are necessary to maintain supply management.
Bob Speller, Ontario MP and chair of the Liberal caucus task force on
agriculture, said the government remains committed to protecting supply
management.
