After striking out twice, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund is debating whether to go to bat for a third time.
The group of American cattle producers will decide in February whether to appeal the International Trade Commission’s ruling on live cattle exported to the United States from Canada.
R-Calf chief executive officer John Lockie said group members will vote on the issue during their national convention Feb. 4 and 5 in Rapid City, South Dakota. When interviewed Jan. 3, Lockie wouldn’t predict which way the vote might go.
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R-Calf last month filed a notice of intent to seek a judicial review of the ruling. The notice of intent is a legal formality that protects the group’s right to make an appeal within a reasonable amount of time.
R-Calf alleged that Canadian cattle were unfairly subsidized and were being dumped into the U.S. market below the cost of production. The group claimed that Canadian beef imports were costing the U.S. industry $1 billion annually.
Those allegations were undermined last year in two separate rulings.
The U.S. Department of Commerce ruled in October that Canadian cattle producers are not unfairly subsidized. The International Trade Commission, an American agency, ruled in November that Canadian exports do not harm the U.S. industry.
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association hopes R-Calf will decide against an appeal of the commission ruling, preventing the need for another expensive round of legal wrangling.
It cost Canadian cattle producers at least $5 million to defend themselves against the R-Calf allegations. The total bill was even higher since the federal government also shared in the defence of Canada’s cattle industry.
“It’s been a real expensive exercise,” said Neil Jahnke, chair of the CCA foreign trade committee. Money needed for legal costs could have been better spent promoting the export of American and Canadian beef into overseas markets, Jahnke said.
But American cattle producers such as Shane Kolb want R-Calf to appeal the ruling. He hopes an appeal would mean fewer Canadian cattle moving into the U.S.
Kolb, a rancher from Meadow, S.D., said imports of Canadian cattle help drive down the prices that large American beef packers pay U.S. producers.
“I’m not against trade between countries and I’m not against Canadian producers – they’re in the same shape we’re in. But I would like to see a few less cattle coming across the border.”
Although its allegations against the Canadian cattle industry were dismissed, R-Calf said its action helped improve the U.S. cattle market.
