US Agriculture Groups Urge Trump to Fight Canadian Milk Rule

State-level agriculture officials in the U.S. adopted a provision calling on the Trump administration to confront Canada over its dairy trade policy during a meeting of the National State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) in Washington.February 1, Canada implemented nationwide a new category for milk products that would allow the country's dairy processors to purchase nonfat milk solids at a subsidized price. Dairy groups and NASDA say that the move violates World Trade Organization (WTO) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) obligations and would drive down global dairy prices."There is a growing frustration over a period of time with what I would call 'gaming the system,' and it seems like there is always some province out there, some group, that is trying to find a loophole and then we have to come back and re-address these issues in a tri-national court," North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said at the meeting.State agriculture officials also opposed rules requiring that the U.S. wheat that Canada imports be classified as the lowest grade, feed wheat, saying it essentially barred U.S. growers from the Canadian market.Meanwhile, in January, the U.S. Trade Representative filed a WTO claim against Canada, saying that the country's regulations discriminate against the sale of U.S. wines in Canadian grocery stores.