Trudeau defends supply management, wants ‘fact’ based trade talk with US

Leaders from both nations say they would support President Donald Trump if he included the WTO in a trade dispute over a milk pricing scheme by Canada that is harming US dairy farmers.

Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier has welcomed U.S. Donald Trump’s swipe at the Canadian dairy industry, saying that it’s not just American farmers who are losing out.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Dairy farms in Wisconsin and other states could be forced out of business as early as May because of a trade dispute that’s halted the export of their milk to Canada. USA dairy groups say the issue will hurt the entire US dairy industry, and President Trump said in Wisconsin this week that the existing rules were unfair.

MacNaughton says the facts don’t bear out that Canada’s policies are the cause of financial loss for US dairy farmers. “We’re going to have to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly”.

Parksville dairy farmer says Canadian industry is very healthy while President Donald Trump says regulations north of the border are unfair to American producers.

Trudeau is anxious about Trump’s protectionist talk and has repeatedly sent his ministers to the U.S.to talk about the importance of the trade relationship.

Trump’s comments were a stunning departure from remarks he made when he met with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in February.

But in this particular case, he said the US dairy industry is off base because ultra-filtered milk is not part of Canada’s supply management regime, and was created after NAFTA, which has allowed it to flow into Canada from the USA duty free.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and President Trump have found something in common: An appreciation for American milk.

After milk, what other Canadian products are likely to be affected by President Trump’s commercial prejudice?

“Canada does not accept the contention that Canada’s dairy policies are the cause of financial loss for dairy farmers in the United States”, MacNaughton said. “A protracted dispute will only drive up the cost of wood and homes for US consumers”.

“And I’ve been reading about it, I’ve been talking about it for a long time, and that demands, really, immediately, fair trade, with all of our trading partners”.

But Trump has repeatedly pledged to take a tough approach in order to strike better trade deals for American exporters. He called them a “disgrace” to USA farm workers.

The document “clearly shows that the poor performance of the USA dairy sector is due to overproduction in the United States and around the world”, he argues.

Schumer are banding together to fight what they see as Canada’s attempt to block US dairy producers from shipping huge amounts of one of their key products north of the border. Now, I understand how certain governors are speaking to certain constituencies on that.

MacNaughton attached a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that he said “indicates that poor results in the U.S. sector are due to U.S. and global overproduction”. “However, saner heads may prevail because these three economies-Mexico, Canada and the USA -are so intertwined in terms of the supply chain that it would be very, very costly to the U.S.to tear up NAFTA”.

Ottawa’s envoy to Washington downplayed talk of growing trade irritants with the US, a day after President Donald Trump sharply criticized Canada’s well-guarded dairy sector.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, asked for a reaction, rejected the suggestion of wrongdoing.