OTTAWA – The Canadian government must not make any compromises with the Americans in an attempt to avoid a U.S. investigation into durum exports, Prairie Pools Inc. said Monday.
PPI leaders told agriculture minister Ralph Goodale and trade minister Roy MacLaren in separate meetings that Canada should be tough and uncompromising in negotiations with the Americans. The U.S. is threatening to start an investigation Jan. 17 into whether increased durum imports are undermining U.S. farm support programs.
PPI president Ken Edie and presidents of the three member pools said Canada has little to fear from an International Trade Commission investigation.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
“Rather than trying to prevent the investigation (into durum) by offering up Canadian programs and policies, Canada should allow the investigation to proceed,” said a PPI brief to MacLaren.
“Unless Canada can achieve uncompromising agreement from the United States that it will discontinue its use of the Export Enhancement Program in Mexico and that it will not take further trade action of any kind against our industry, no offers should be made in order to prevent an ITC investigation.”
In a Jan. 10 interview, Edie said the government must make it clear to the Americans that Canadian programs will not be compromised.
“We have had other investigations and we came out with a clean bill of health,” he said. “We think our programs have to be protected.”
PPI also asked the ministers to resist American pressure to drop the existing requirement that U.S. wheat coming north have an end-use certificate proving sale before it crosses the border. The Americans have suggested they will drop plans to impose similar requirements on Canadian wheat going south if Canada removed the end-use requirement from their product.
“As long as they didn’t use it as a trade barrier, we have no problem with them putting end-use certificates on,” said Edie. “We need them here to protect the integrity of our system.”
Last Saturday, after a tense meeting with U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Espy that failed to resolve the issue, Goodale was asked if he considered challenging the Americans to call the investigation because Canada was confident of its position.
“I don’t think it’s up to us to give advice on that point,” he said.
