Bison no longer penalized at U.S. border

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Published: April 13, 2000

After admitting it was a mistake, the United States has lifted the tariff on imported bison meat.

In March, an American customs officer at Sweetgrass, Montana, used an obscure trade ruling to lay a 26.4 percent tariff on all bison meat shipped to the U.S. from Canada.

Officials on both sides of the border admitted it was a mistake made when the North American Free Trade Agreement was revised in 1994.

Bison meat should have been listed under the tariff-free bovine category, not the “other” category under bovine.

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Maurice Moore, president of Canadian Rangeland Beef and Bison, said officials on both sides worked together to get the tariff lifted.

“It made a few people nervous for a week or two.”

He expects it will take four to five weeks to get his money refunded from tariffs paid on meat imported during that time.

The tariff was a wake-up call to the industry to develop domestic markets to lessen the impact of future tariffs, said Moore.

“My philosophy is the best business is a home business. We should be selling into a bison market in Canada.”

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