7/17/2017

LABOR/LOBBYING/NAFTA/WTO: “The U.S. dairy lobby is ratcheting up the pressure on Canada as talks to renegotiate NAFTA draw closer, demanding concessions the Canadian government looks unwilling to grant, according to people familiar with the file.
The result could be a brawl that sours efforts to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which Canada sends most of its exports to the United States. Mexico is the pact’s third member.
U.S. farmers have long chafed about supply management, the term for Canada’s system of tariffs and quotas to keep domestic prices high and imports low. A 2016 deal that allowed Canadian farmers to sell milk proteins to domestic processors at a discount, curbing the flow of American imports, further raised their ire.
Jaime Castaneda, senior vice-president for the U.S. Dairy Export Council, said the influential lobby group will pursue fresh challenges through the World Trade Organization unless Canada stops the proteins sale.”

-David Ljunggren and Rod Nickel, “U.S. dairy lobby increases pressure on Canada, NAFTA fight looms,” Reuters, July 17, 2017 08:06am