MacAulay said Canada won’t back down until COOL is formally repealed by US lawmakers. But Canadian and Mexican trade authorities and agricultural officials in both neighboring countries claim the rule has no value as a security measure and only serves to provide an unfair marketing advantage to USA beef, a position repeatedly supported by WTO officials.
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That could happen later this week, or early next week.
On December 7 Canada and Mexico, the second- and third-largest U.S. trade partners, won World Trade Organization approval to impose up to $1 billion a year in trade sanctions against the United States over its Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law requirement on beef and pork.
“Congress willingly kowtowed to worldwide trade tribunals to gut COOL and even tossed out the labels for ground meats that the WTO ruled were totally trade-legal – a holiday gift to the meatpacking industry from Congress”. “Since its inception, I have warned that retaliation was coming, and I’m pleased American agriculture and businesses will escape these tariffs”, said U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, Wednesday.
John Masswohl of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association pointed to the example of Tyson Foods. We heard the COOL rider is in, we heard it’s out.
“We went from every plant in the USA being willing to take the cattle to just a little more than a handful”, Laycraft said.
The bill might be most remembered in the USA for another provision: a relaxing of the 40-year-old quasi-total ban on oil exports from the US, imposed amid the energy scare of the 1970s.
“We heard some saying they thought it would survive the first round of cuts, but then when politicians whose pet project gets killed start getting mean and vindictive, then it’s fair game on anything”, Masswohl said.
“They were looking at geographic areas where this would have some impact”, Davidson said.
There were hints Monday that the pressure was beginning to crack one of COOL’s biggest Democratic supporters, Sen. The WTO has never ruled in favour of the Americans.
Agriculture minister Lyle Stewart is optimistic cool will be repealed but he says there are three stages where the legislation could be derailed.
“If pretty much full repeal of COOL is not part of this omnibus bill, it will be the last opportunity to change COOL”.
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“We have agreed to work very closely together on this issue, including when it comes to retaliation”, said Freeland.
