The United States announces victory over Canada in the first dispute of the T-MEC treaty

U.S announced that he beat Canada litigation over Canadian milk quotas, in the first dispute of the North American Free Trade Agreement (T-MEC).

The group formed last May to settle the case considered that the milk quotas adopted by Canada are contrary to the provisions of this agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, said the United States representative for Commerce, Katherine Tai, in a statement.

Washington reproaches Ottawa for reserving part of its farmers’ milk for Canadian dairies, which process it, which automatically reduces the amount of milk the United States sells to it.

“This historic victory will help remove unjustified trade restrictions on US dairy products and ensure that the US dairy industry and its workers fully benefit from the T-MEC to market and sell US products to Canadian consumers,” Katherine Tai reacted in a statement. .

The panel presented its report on December 20 and, under T-MEC regulations, Canada has 45 days from that date to comply with the ruling.

The group was created last May at the request of Washington. It is the first conflict since the T-MEC replaced NAFTA on July 1, 2020.

The Canadian government claims to be satisfied with certain aspects of this report and estimates that it “came out largely in favor of Canada and its dairy industry.” It further indicates that it has “taken note” of the observation on quotas and states that it will “continue to work closely with the Canadian dairy industry”.

“Canada takes seriously its commitments and obligations under international agreements,” including those with the United States, “its closest trading partner,” said the Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng, and the Minister of Agriculture, Marie- Claude Bibeau.

Between January and October 2021, the United States exported dairy products worth US $ 478 million to Canada, which is the third largest export destination for US dairy products, its trade representative reported.