In an open letter to the prime minister, Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) are calling for Justin Trudeau not to sign the United-States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA).
The group states the USMCA will create further harm to the Canadian dairy sector. Adding that the trade document still contains, “provisions that would grant the U.S. oversight into the administration of the Canadian dairy system which undermines Canadian sovereignty and ability to manage Canadian dairy without U.S. intervention.”
Instead, the DFC wants the government to take out the clause granting the U.S. access of the dairy system, and asks that, “to prevent further damage to the Canadian dairy sector, you do not sign the USMCA until the U.S. oversight of our dairy system has been removed from the agreement.”
The letter is signed by Pierre Lampron, president of DFC, along with the chairs from the 10 provincial dairy associations.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) also sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland urging them not to sign the NAFTA 2.0 agreement, citing similar concerns.
“It has recently come to light that the published text – which is available only on the U.S. Trade Representatives website and in English — contains clauses regarding dairy tariff-setting authority that differ from what Canadian negotiators agreed upon,” says Katie Ward, NFU president. “The fact that the negotiated final text either does not exist or has not been made public is reason enough to cancel the planned signing ceremony.”
Please register to read and comment.