Live pigs became the object of the latest US-Canada trade spat on Friday as Washington slapped tariffs on Canadian hogs, claiming subsidies in Canada harm US livestock farmers.
The main US pork association praised the action, but it drew a sharp response from Ottawa and Canadian swine producers, and from a coalition of US groups contending the tariffs will hurt US producers.
The preliminary duties, pending a final determination, will range up to 15.01 percent to compensate for "dumping," or selling below fair market value, the Commerce Department said.
The Commerce Department acted on a petition from the National Pork Producers Council and several states' farm groups, contending that Canadian farmers have gotten some US$100 million in subsidies in recent years.
But some US groups bristled at the claims, saying tariffs will end up hurting many US farmers who import from Canada and then raise young pigs.
The duties "are unfair and will hurt hundreds of American farmers who buy Canadian pigs and raise them to market in the US," said John Block, a former US agriculture secretary and spokesman for Pork Trade Action Coalition, which opposes tariffs.
"These duties are completely unjustified," said Block. "Canadian exports are not hurting the US industry -- they account for only 3.3 percent of the US market. In fact, US pork producers are enjoying record prices and record profits.
"In addition," he said, "the price of hogs is set by the market -- not by Canadian exporters. The DOC has made a misguided trade policy decision that could wipe out many small farms in the Midwest."
But Jon Caspers of the Pork Producers Council said the decision "is compelled by the economic reality of the situation. Canadian hog producers unfairly benefit from huge subsidies that cause overproduction in Canada and allow Canadian producers to sell their hogs in the United States at artificially low prices."
The row marked the latest in a series of trade disputes with Canada involving wheat, dairy products, softwood and other other matters.
Last year, the US imported some 7.4 million swine from Canada, with a value of some 389 million dollars, according to Commerce Department data.
In Ottawa, Jim Peterson, Canada's minister of international trade, criticized the move by Washington.
"Imposing duties on Canadian live swine exports affects all of North America, given that our markets are so integrated," he said.
"In fact, Canadian hog supplies are essential to the United States position as a leading pork exporter. We disagree with the decision to slap duties on Canadian swine and we will continue to strongly defend our industry as this process moves forward. We have one of the most competitive industries in the world."
The Canadian Pork Council said meanwhile it was "very disappointed" with the decision.
"This is an additional expense for moving hogs into the United States and serves only to erode the free and fair trade that has made the North American hog and pork industry as successful as it is," the group said.
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