The bitter war of words that erupted between US President Donald Trump and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau shone an unwelcome spotlight on Canada’s dairy sector, which falls outside of the NAFTA agreement. When POTUS pointed to the tariffs imposed on dairy products, which he says are “killing” U.S. farmers, many wondered what it was all about.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our <a href="https://twitter.com/g7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@G7</a> meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1005586562959093760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Great was their surprise to learn that Mr Trump pointed to a tariff which in some cases goes as high as 300% just to protect Canadian dairy farmers against US imports.
And so Mr Trudeau, facing re-election in 2019, was hastily visited by a lobby group representing the 11,000 dairy farmers Canada has yesterday, as they wanted to make sure he would reassure them of his backing. Quite frankly, given that the farmers are concentrated in the vote-rich provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Mr Trudeau cannot really risk losing them.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re working with <a href="https://twitter.com/dfc_plc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dfc_plc</a> to make sure we continue to support and defend Canada’s dairy farmers. My thanks to the DFC President and CEO for the productive meeting in Ottawa today.</p>— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1006671587385409536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Mr Pierre Lampron, who represents the Canadian dairy farmers, said: “It was a very good meeting. He reaffirmed his support for dairy producers all across Canada. He wants strong dairy production for the next generation.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’ll always stand up for the hardworking Canadians in our agricultural sector. Today in Ottawa, Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/L_MacAulay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@L_MacAulay</a> & I dropped by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OttawaDiner?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OttawaDiner</a> to talk with Canada’s dairy, poultry, and egg farmers about what we’re doing to protect their livelihoods. <a href="https://t.co/TxAnFm6nSg">pic.twitter.com/TxAnFm6nSg</a></p>— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1006638466925498368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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On the other hand, Mr Trudeau, who’s liberals are currently polling neck and neck with the conservatives, can’t risk a trade war with the US and the ensuing job loss would cost him votes. All remains to be seen whether Mr Trump will push through on his tariff threat.
Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/28491-Canada-Comments-On-US-Trade-Relations-We-Have-To-Prepare-For-The-Worst#28519
On top of that, Canada’s dairy sector is heavily sheltered under a decade-long government system, which President Trump has already criticized once before in 2017, when he said: “Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/856847826663460865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Lets see the Canuks are bitching about a 20% steel and 9% aluminum tariff that we intend to impose but after Trump announces the Canuks charge a 270% tariff on dairy they all run and say "you better not remove that tariff!! Muh were just lowly farmers that cannot compete unless US dairy is unfairly taxed almost 300% Two hundred seventy to three hundred %!! And they are bitching about 20 and 9.
The trade war has been going on for years but we Americans bent over and took it in the a$$. Those days are behind us.
Make and Keep America great!!
It is about time an American politician protects our American businesses. I could care less about the farmers in Canada. Thank you President Trump.