UNDATED (WSAU) – Governor Scott Walker is urging President Trump to address Canada’s dairy trade restrictions. Walker issued a joint letter to Trump with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday. The move comes as 75 Wisconsin dairy farms won’t have buyers for their milk beginning May 1st because of the restrictions.
Canada has created a new Class 7 milk tariff for ultra-pasteurized milk that’s used to make cheese. The tariff prices U.S. milk out of the Canadian market.
Trump referenced the issue during his speech yesterday in Kenosha. He pledged to find a solution for the dispute, saying he will insist on “… a level playing field with all of our trading partners, including Canada.”
Canada’s ambassador to Washington David MacNaughton said the overproduction of dairy is causing the losses, not changes in policy in Canada. He responded in a letter that says, “Canada does not accept the contention that Canada’s dairy policies are the cause of financial loss for dairy farmers in the United States.” His letter referenced a dairy outlook report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which he says “clearly indicates the poor results in the U.S. sector are due U.S. and global overproduction.”
The MetroSource news wire contributed to this report.
