US puts Canada near top of unfair trader list

April 5, 2002

5 April 2002

US puts Canada near top of unfair trader list

The following article is excerpted from the 3 April 2002 on-line edition of "National Post".

The U.S Trade Representative yesterday placed Canada near the top of its annual list of countries with which it has major trade disputes, a move which came as the United States threatened to launch yet another round of trade action, this time against Canadian wheat.

.... [Robert Zoellick] pointed to the battle over softwood lumber, where talks aimed at ending the 20- year-old trade dispute collapsed two weeks ago, as a prime example of the problems between the two nations....

However, Allen Johnson, the top U.S. agricultural negotiator, will be in North Dakota today [3 April] to meet with angry U.S. wheat farmers who are complaining the Canadian Wheat Board continues to steal market share both in the United States and around the world.

Despite recent U.S. investigations that have largely exonerated the Winnipeg-based board, Mr. Johnson said that the administration of George W. Bush... agrees with the farmers that the board is both "monopolistic and distorts trade."....

Mr. Johnson said the United States is looking at a four-pronged strategy designed to end the wheat board's monopoly on selling Canadian wheat in the United States and abroad; launching a new complaint before the World Trade Organization; initiating its own investigations into countervail and anti-dumping actions, which is rarely done; complaining directly to Ottawa about problems getting U.S. wheat into Canada; and continuing its campaign to dismantle the wheat board's monopoly during upcoming global trade talks.

The wheat battle was also included in the list of trade disputes Mr. Zoellick released yesterday [2 April], as were U.S. plans to again complain about Canadian dairy exports. The United States plans to present new evidence within weeks to satisfy a panel that "Canada is unfairly subsidizing its dairy exports."

A spokesman for the federal Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that Ottawa was not surprised by Canada's inclusion on the U.S. list, especially with regard to the dispute over the Canadian Wheat Board....

Canada was not alone among the countries the United States has targeted. Its second-largest trading partner, Mexico, is on the list over its apparent refusal to open its telecom sector to U.S. industry....


Topic(s): 
Canadian Economy & Politics
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
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