OTTAWA — The federal government says it is refusing to rush to the defence of British Columbia apple growers in their fight to stop American imports because the legal case to block imports may not yet be strong enough.
David Anderson, revenue minister and a B.C. MP, told the House of Commons last week that an attempt to erect tariffs against U.S. imports, which producers say are undermining the Canadian industry, must be backed up with strong evidence of damage.
He said he believes the B.C. orchard industry is being hurt but the requirements to win a case before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) are technical and precise.
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“To rush in before we have adequate facts to prove our case … would be extremely unwise,” he said.
In B.C., growers who have been calling for help to reduce imports of Red and Golden Delicious apples from the U.S. rallied at the Canada-U.S. border south of Osoyoos May 9 to protest what they consider dumping.
They say that since February, when the CITT ruled there was no justification for existing tariff protection and ordered it removed, the flood of cheap American apples has cost growers $1.6 million.
In the Commons, Okanagan Centre Reform MP Werner Schmidt said the damage could reach $25 million if nothing is done before the CITT hears an appeal a year and a half from now.
Anderson said he recognizes the damage and is working with the apple industry to develop a case which can be taken to the tribunal this summer. It will demand a new tariff in time for the autumn harvest season.
“We will proceed as soon as we believe we have a case that can be won,” he said.
While his caution may not satisfy protesting B.C. farmers, it won some sympathy from Danny Dempster, executive vice-president of the Canadian Horticultural Council.
Dempster said May 6 that if the government does not follow the rules of the trade agreement, it will be accused by the Americans of the same kind of political interference Canada is always blaming on the U.S.
Dempster said existing trade remedy laws within the free trade agreements do not work well for perishable products. By the time the rules are played out, the damage is done.
“From the industry point of view, if you are bleeding, you do not want to hear that an operation has been scheduled a year and a half away,” he said.
“But I don’t know that the government has much room to move. It doesn’t want to be seen fudging the rules at this time in our relations with the Americans.”
