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Senators Call on Trump to Act on Canadian Dairy Issue
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 04/13/2017

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, along with Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, have called on the Trump Administration to act on restrictive Canadian trade barriers that are hurting American dairy farmers and processors. In a letter to Acting U.S. Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Acting Secretary of Agriculture Michael Young, the Democratic lawmakers detailed the negative impact Canada's trade practices are having on America's dairy industry. The memo was in reaction to Ontario's recent decision to stop taking ultra-filtered from the United States.

"We urge you to exhaust all potential avenues to bring Canada into compliance with its trade commitments and establish dependable trading conditions for U.S. companies exporting to Canada," the Senators wrote. "Dairy farmers should not have their businesses ruined and lives upended as a result of this unfair trade practice. Canada must be clearly and swiftly reminded in a concrete way that dependable trading conditions between our two countries is critically important to their country as well."

The trio went on to say that Wisconsin's dairy industry has already suffered losses as a result of the trade dispute after dairy processors have been forced to cut many of their patrons because they no longer have a market for their surplus milk.

Meanwhile, officials with Canada's dairy industry claim they are being wrongly blamed for a decision by the Wisconsin-based Grassland Dairy Products Inc. to drop about 75 of its farm suppliers by May 1. Isabelle Bouchard with Dairy Farmers of Canada told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this week that the United States needs to be responsible for managing its own production--not anyone else.

"We don't feel good about U.S. farms going out of business. But you know what? It's not our responsibility," Bouchard told the newspaper. "We are a nation of 36 million people, less than the population of California. How do you expect us to consume your over-supply of milk when we already produce milk for our market?"

Earlier this week, Wisconsin Agriculture Ben Brancel pulled together key members of the state's dairy industry for a pow-wow of sorts to discuss solutions to the problem.


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