January 4, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. | U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik has announced a USMCA dispute settlement panel ruled in favor of the United States that Canada is breaching its commitments under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by unfairly administering dairy tariff-rate quotas in a way that harms American dairy farmers.
“I am proud to announce that, following my advocacy, North Country dairy farmers will receive well-deserved access to the Canadian dairy market after suffering from unfair restrictions,” Stefanik said Jan. 4.
“I am grateful to the USTR for utilizing the USMCA’s powerful new enforcement tool to secure the full benefits of the USMCA for American farmers and working towards Canada’s full compliance with its dairy market access commitments, and I will continue to advocate for results for North Country dairy farmers.”
Canada’s allocation of dairy tariff-rate quotas was undermining the ability of U.S. dairy farmers to access a large portion of the Canadian dairy market.
In May 2021, Stefanik sent a letter to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai, encouraging USTR to fully enforce dairy provisions in the USMCA. Following Stefanik’s advocacy, USTR announced that the agency established a Dispute Settlement Panel to consider Canada’s failure to comply with dairy tariff-rate quota provisions in the USMCA. The final decision resulted from the creation of this panel.
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