Trump Shows Growing Concern With NAFTA Dairy Issues
After congressional lawmakers and industry stakeholders requested that the White House work to loosen Canadian price constraints harming U.S. milk exports (see 1704130051), President Donald Trump highlighted the contentious situation during a speech in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “What's happened to [Wisconsin dairy farmers] is very, very unfair,” Trump said, according to remarks (here). “It's another typical one-sided deal against the United States. And it's not going to be happening for long.” During the address, Trump returned to some of his aggressive trade rhetoric used during the campaign, calling NAFTA a “complete and total disaster,” vowing “very big changes” during the renegotiation or else U.S. withdrawal.
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Trump again mentioned the issue during an unrelated signing ceremony involving steel imports (see 1704200029). “What happened to our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and New York State -- we’re not going to let it happen," he said (here). "We can’t let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they do to our workers and to our farmers.” That's also happening "along our northern border states with Canada, having to do with lumber and timber," so "we’re going to have to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton disputed the notion that his country's dairy policies are financially harming U.S. farmers, in an April 18 letter to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. MacNaughton pointed to a February U.S. Department of Agriculture study as indicating that poor U.S. sales stem from U.S. and global overproduction, for which he said Canada shares no responsibility.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of MacNaughton's letter.