No more political games: Canada must come to the table

In 2018, President Trump delivered a historic reset of North American trade with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was a huge victory for American families, farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses in my district and across the country. Now, as its first mandatory review approaches, that progress is at risk.

A critical part of this agreement was the joint review process, the first for a U.S. free trade agreement. This review process requires the U.S., Mexico and Canada to review the agreement every six years and discuss any necessary changes to the agreement as each country’s needs change and the trade environment changes. The first such review process will take place by July 1 of this year.

As expected, there are still some outstanding trade issues with both Canada and Mexico that the U.S. looks forward to addressing in this review process. However, while Mexico has been pragmatic and constructive in discussing these issues, Canada has refused to even come to the negotiating table.

The U.S. and Canada have a longstanding and strong bilateral relationship. From military and intelligence partnerships to manufacturing, sports, and tourism, the U.S. and Canada share not only the longest international border, but a close bond. However, when it comes to trade there are several key issues that must be addressed.

First and foremost is Canada’s unfair treatment of American dairy farmers. Despite the creation of new tariff rate quotas exclusively for U.S. dairy producers under USMCA, Canada has manipulated the market by allocating these tariff rate quotas to entities that refuse to use them, instead of retailers and wholesalers that desire high-quality, low-cost American dairy.

Canada has known for six years that this would be a top issue during the joint review process, but a few weeks ago U.S. Trade Representative Jaimeson Greer told me during a Ways and Means Committee hearing, despite repeatedly raising this issue, the Canadians still refuse to make any commitments to remedy this issue.

Canada also prohibits the import of bulk fruits and vegetables of a certain package size from the U.S. without a ministerial exemption. This makes no economic or practical sense, but once again, despite repeated requests to work on this issue, the Canadians have yet to meaningfully engage.

The list of Canadian regulations that discriminate against U.S. producers is extensive: restrictions on U.S. seed exports, the Online Streaming Act which imposes new unfair requirements on U.S. streaming services operating in Canada, and unacceptable restrictions on access for turkey farmers. On all of these issues, the U.S. trade representative has raised them with the Canadians, and yet Canada has given no meaningful engagement.

Instead of working through these issues, nearly every Canadian province except Alberta and Saskatchewan, prohibited the sale and import of American beer, wine, and spirits. This deliberate aggression against U.S. producers not only deprives Canadians access to their desired beverages of choice, but it harms U.S. producers. As Greer noted to me, “There are two countries that have retaliated economically against the United States in the past year: The People’s Republic of China and Canada. So that’s kind of the company they’re running in.”

As an Upstate New Yorker, my love of Canada and our great neighbors to the north has always been a part of my life and most of my neighbors and friends. I attended the former Silver Broom Curling School. I showed my horse at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, and I have always been a huge hockey fan. Canadian tourism is also a critical part of our Upstate New York regional economy and I want to see this relationship thrive.

But this must start with honest and frank conversations between friends. I frequently meet with Canadian delegations and government officials who are happy to list their grievances with the U.S. in the trade space but some grow quiet and dismissive when asked about addressing U.S. concerns. We need to move forward constructively as billions in mutual economic benefits and cultural exchanges could needlessly be lost. 

With July 1 rapidly approaching, the time for political games and grandstanding is over. Canada must come to the table in good-faith by dropping its retaliatory actions and engaging seriously on the trade issues affecting both sides of our border. Together, we can build a stronger, more prosperous U.S.-Canada partnership.