Newsroom
2002
September 16, 2002
U.S. trade harassment resumes
Winnipeg -- The CWB is extremely disappointed that Americans have decided to launch another assault on the Canadian wheat industry. The North Dakota Wheat Commission announced Friday that it has filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions demanding import duties be slapped on Canadian wheat and durum.
American groups have challenged their Canadian wheat competitors under trade provisions on nine previous occasions -- with the most recent decision rendered in February 2002. On no occasion were punitive tariffs ever applied.
"It is particularly galling that the North Dakotans can file such a petition when you consider the absurd level of subsidy support the U.S. government provides to its farmers compared to most other exporters," CWB chair Ken Ritter said.
Based on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the value of U.S. wheat support is $108 Cdn per tonne, compared to only $31 per tonne for Canadian farmers. This comparison does not include the new U.S. Farm Bill, approved in May, which is expected to add another $45 billion US in agricultural support over the next six years.
The CWB will again do everything in its power to ensure that Canadian farmers continue to have fair access to the U.S. market.
"I believe these exports would be targeted whether or not the CWB existed, judging by other examples where Canadians compete with Americans -- such as softwood lumber and tomatoes," Ritter said. "However, it is the success of the CWB's single-desk approach to marketing that has made U.S. complaints about wheat and durum so persistent."
Ritter said Canadian farmers can ill afford the amount of money that must again be spent to defend their right, over the long term, to export into the premium U.S. market.
Last year's investigation of the CWB by the U.S. government found no justification for quotas, tariffs or duties to be imposed on Canadian wheat imports. In fact, investigators found Canadian durum was being sold to U.S. buyers for higher prices than American durum 98 per cent of the time.
Ritter said only Canadian farmers will dictate how their grain is marketed -- not pressure from foreign competitors.
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. As one of Canada’s biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells grain to more than 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less the costs of marketing, to Prairie farmers.