Canada may take retaliatory trade action against the United States that would have the unfortunate side-effect of doubling the price of seed for western Canadian bean producers.
In a letter sent to International Trade Canada last month, Pulse Canada chair Jack Froese urged the federal government to drop U.S. pulses from a proposed list of products that would face up to a 100 percent surtax in response to the U.S. Byrd amendment.
“Retaliatory action that includes pulses will provide significantly more immediate harm to the Canadian industry than it will to the U.S. industry,” he said.
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Beans, peas, chickpeas and lentils are part of a proposed list of American products that would face stiff Canadian duties if the U.S. continues to refuse to repeal what the World Trade Organization deemed an illegal piece of legislation.
The Byrd amendment allows anti-dumping and countervailing duties to be distributed to the U.S. companies that requested or supported the imposition of the duties.
On Aug. 31, 2004, the WTO gave Canada and seven other countries the right to impose import duties on U.S. products to punish it for not complying with requests to repeal the legislation.
On Nov. 23, 2004, International Trade Canada published a lengthy list of American goods that would face surtaxes amounting to $10 million if Ottawa decided to implement the duties in 2005.
Pulse Canada’s response was one of a few hundred submissions the Canadian government received on the proposed list during a public consultation period that ended Dec. 20, 2004.
Greg Cherewyk, director of programs at Pulse Canada, said there are many reasons why the industry does not want pulses on the list.
First is that bean growers rely heavily on importing disease-free seed from the U.S. for spring planting.
Cherewyk said it could also hamper ongoing joint projects with American pulse organizations, such as pesticide and maximum residue limit harmonization and an alliance to promote the health benefits of beans.
He doesn’t know how pulses got on the list but hopes Froese’s letter will get them off of it.
Carrie Goodge, spokesperson for International Trade Canada, said after the department reviews comments submitted by industry stakeholders, the government plans to consult with the seven other co-complainants.
“The intention is to select products that would cause the least harm to Canadian industry,” said Goodge.
She said no decision has been made on whether duties will be implemented and no timeline has been established for finalizing the list of products.
Pulse Canada was also busy last week lobbying the prime minister’s office to include another trade irritant on Paul Martin’s agenda when he sat down with India’s president and prime minister on Jan. 18.
India has implemented new fumigation regulations that could potentially disrupt yearly pulse exports to India worth approximately the same amount as Canada’s combined annual pre-BSE beef exports to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.
He doesn’t know if the issue made it onto Martin’s agenda because nobody from the prime minister’s office responded to Pulse Canada inquiries.
