Washington - The U.S. International Trade Commission has found evidence that American farmers might have been hurt by imports of live Canadian cattle.
The decision means the case now moves to the Commerce Department, which will investigate whether Canadian cattle have indeed been dumped or subsidized into this country at less than fair value.
"The crisis in the cattle industry is real and imports are part of the problem,” said Leo McDonnell, president of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Foundation, or R-CALF, which brought the trade petition.
Leland Swenson, president of the National Farmers Union, said, "Many family ranchers have already gone out of business due to low cattle prices and those who are still in business are barely making ends meet.”
In its petitions filed late last year, R-CALF charged Canada and Mexico with unfair policies in live cattle trade with United States. The commission's ruling found there was no indication of injury from imports from Mexico.
The petition process, though over a significant hurdle, is still far from over. A decision from Commerce is not expected until early May. Once the Commerce Department finishes its investigation, the case could go back to the ITC.
If successful, the R-CALF action could require foreign producers to sell their products at a fair price or importers to pay the difference to the U.S. government as an additional duty.
R-CALF supporters blame the North American Free Trade Agreement approved by Congress in 1993 for opening the gates to Canadian and Mexican imports - many of which are believed to be subsidized by their governments - without providing U.S. producers equal benefits in exports.
Many ranchers believe those imported cattle have driven down market prices in the United States and increased the financial pressure that can force cattle producers out of business.
Farm state lawmakers praised the ruling.
"This ruling is an important step forward in stopping unfair Canadian trade,” said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). "It means that an independent international board has finally recognized that Canada is unfairly flooding the American market and that U.S. producers are being forced to compete on an unlevel playing field.”
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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