Trade Groups Keep Pressure on Congress to Make COOL Changes
Dozens of U.S. producers and industry associations pushed Congress to pass “corrective action” to address country-of-origin labeling rules that the World Trade Organization determined violate global trade law, in a Jan. 20 letter to House and Senate members (here). The appeals process is still underway in the case, after the U.S. challenged an panel ruling in late November (see 1411280029). The WTO has repeatedly sided with Canada and Mexico in the dispute, saying U.S. COOL rules discriminate against foreign producers (see 1412120005).
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Industry signatories to the letter, which include the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, didn’t specify what that “corrective action” should look like, but argued the U.S. economy is poised to suffer through retaliatory tariffs. “If the Compliance Panel’s original findings are found to be valid, both Canada and Mexico could subject an array of U.S. exports to retaliatory tariffs as soon as second quarter, 2015,” said the letter. “Canada has already issued a preliminary retaliation list targeting a broad spectrum of commodities and manufactured products that would affect every state in the country. Mexico has not yet announced a preliminary retaliation list, but has implemented retaliatory tariffs in the past which may be indicative of future tariff actions.”
Months ago, COOL opponents urged Congress to provide the Agriculture Department authority to revoke the portions of the COOL rules that the WTO rejected (see 1411060019). Lawmakers balked at that request, and instead directed USDA to provide a report to Congress on COOL changes as part of the 2015 fiscal year appropriations package (see 1412170007).