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US WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Canada must end its policy on cheap milk protein to conclude an agreement between the United States and Canada to update the North American Free Trade Agreement.
PHOTO FILE – US Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, addresses dairy farmers at Trinity Valley Dairy in Cortland, New York, USA, August 23, 2018. REUTERS / Shannon Stapleton
Canada has encouraged overproduction and flooded export markets with milk protein used in cheese and yogurt, hurting US dairy farmers, Perdue said in an interview broadcast on C-SPAN on Sunday.
"Our farmers do not have access to Canadian markets the way they access us. Class 7 must leave. It can not be renamed or otherwise called, "said Perdue about the dairy concessions needed to reach an agreement with NAFTA. powdered whole milk.
"This allowed them to export milk solids to the world market and lower prices than those that prevented our dairy farmers from accessing this global market," said Perdue.
The $ 16 billion Canadian dairy market is one of the last weak points in negotiations between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Negotiations should resume after Lighthizer's trip to Brussels for trade talks with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Monday.
A spokesman for Freeland could not be reached immediately to comment on Perdue's remarks.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said last week that milk was the main obstacle to an agreement with NAFTA.
In an interview with the Global News Canada network released Sunday, Freeland declined to discuss specific issues during negotiations and noted that Kudlow was not at the negotiating table. Freeland added that to enter into an agreement with NAFTA, all sides. "
Freeland said Friday that she and Lighthizer were making "very good progress" in the talks to save NAFTA, as Canadians were increasingly optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement. President Donald Trump concluded a trade deal with Mexico and threatened to pursue without Canada, a measure that would kill NAFTA, which covers $ 1.2 trillion in trade between the three countries, and which still has shaken the financial markets.
Lost said on C-SPAN that Lighthizer had been "very clear" on the need to repeal the class 7 charging system.
When asked if there was going to be a NAFTA agreement, he said, "I think that should be the case. I think it's going to go.
In April 2017, Trump nearly withdrew from NAFTA after being angered by the plight of Wisconsin dairy farmers, whose milk protein exports to Canada had been interrupted by the US's tariff system. class 7. Trump decided to renegotiate NAFTA instead.
Report by David Lawder; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Will Dunham
