Got this clip from Animalnet. Although the actual topic is hogs and the reaction from various sources in the U.S. to the recent lifting of antidumping duties on live hogs, I thought there were obvious parallels to live cattle and R-Calf.
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council
Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live
Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
The Veterinary Services Director with Iowa based Unique Swine System believes American producers will need to take a direct stand against further trade action against imported live Canadian swine. Dr. Tom Samp says the 5-0 ITC ruling is great for the independent U.S. producer, suggesting it was basically corporate hogs verses the independents.
He says, ‘Now that the independents will be able to access pigs from where they want there will be a lot more of them staying in business.’ However, he fears that the National Pork Producers Council may not yet be finished with the action. ‘They still are in denial that there weren’t any damages and there weren’t any subsidies. Basically they can still come back and visit again. Times get bad, they may bring it up again.’ ‘I guess, unless they get soundly defeated or the pork producers stand up and say, ‘We’re tired of you spending our money on frivolous things.’ I think they're still going to try and attack it.’Dr. Samp describes the United States as Southern Canada and Canada as the Northern United States from Ontario west and questions why the two industries are even arguing with each other. He says, ‘You get these guys riled up like that and they’ll get a few people to come in and say, ‘Rah, rah, keep the Canadians at home!’ It’s a nice rallying cry but what they have to do is realize that, if we want to be a global market, we’ve got to be a global market. You can’t have protectionism here and not other places. I think, once we realize that, we’ll be off to the races.’
He suggests its up to US swine producers to rally behind the ITC determination and push for an end to this type of action.
Caspers says the NPPC is prepared to work with its counterpart, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), to resolve the US industry's concerns. ‘The two organizations do meet two times a year and that's been going on for more than a decade. Those discussions are always welcome. In fact, before NPPC brought these cases we made a special trip up to Ottawa and met with the Canadian Pork Council, a lot of their officers, just to see if there was something thatwe could do to correct this situation before we were essentially forced to bring these cases.’
In the meantime, Caspers says, NPPC will continue to look at this case. ‘I’d like to see some resolution to it and I'm sure our board is going to be willing to sit down and take a look at what can be done to mitigate some of these problems. We’re always willing to meet so hopefully there can be some resolution.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live
Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
The Veterinary Services Director with Iowa based Unique Swine System believes American producers will need to take a direct stand against further trade action against imported live Canadian swine. Dr. Tom Samp says the 5-0 ITC ruling is great for the independent U.S. producer, suggesting it was basically corporate hogs verses the independents.
He says, ‘Now that the independents will be able to access pigs from where they want there will be a lot more of them staying in business.’ However, he fears that the National Pork Producers Council may not yet be finished with the action. ‘They still are in denial that there weren’t any damages and there weren’t any subsidies. Basically they can still come back and visit again. Times get bad, they may bring it up again.’ ‘I guess, unless they get soundly defeated or the pork producers stand up and say, ‘We’re tired of you spending our money on frivolous things.’ I think they're still going to try and attack it.’Dr. Samp describes the United States as Southern Canada and Canada as the Northern United States from Ontario west and questions why the two industries are even arguing with each other. He says, ‘You get these guys riled up like that and they’ll get a few people to come in and say, ‘Rah, rah, keep the Canadians at home!’ It’s a nice rallying cry but what they have to do is realize that, if we want to be a global market, we’ve got to be a global market. You can’t have protectionism here and not other places. I think, once we realize that, we’ll be off to the races.’
He suggests its up to US swine producers to rally behind the ITC determination and push for an end to this type of action.
Caspers says the NPPC is prepared to work with its counterpart, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), to resolve the US industry's concerns. ‘The two organizations do meet two times a year and that's been going on for more than a decade. Those discussions are always welcome. In fact, before NPPC brought these cases we made a special trip up to Ottawa and met with the Canadian Pork Council, a lot of their officers, just to see if there was something thatwe could do to correct this situation before we were essentially forced to bring these cases.’
In the meantime, Caspers says, NPPC will continue to look at this case. ‘I’d like to see some resolution to it and I'm sure our board is going to be willing to sit down and take a look at what can be done to mitigate some of these problems. We’re always willing to meet so hopefully there can be some resolution.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live
Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
The Veterinary Services Director with Iowa based Unique Swine System believes American producers will need to take a direct stand against further trade action against imported live Canadian swine. Dr. Tom Samp says the 5-0 ITC ruling is great for the independent U.S. producer, suggesting it was basically corporate hogs verses the independents.
He says, ‘Now that the independents will be able to access pigs from where they want there will be a lot more of them staying in business.’ However, he fears that the National Pork Producers Council may not yet be finished with the action. ‘They still are in denial that there weren’t any damages and there weren’t any subsidies. Basically they can still come back and visit again. Times get bad, they may bring it up again.’ ‘I guess, unless they get soundly defeated or the pork producers stand up and say, ‘We’re tired of you spending our money on frivolous things.’ I think they're still going to try and attack it.’Dr. Samp describes the United States as Southern Canada and Canada as the Northern United States from Ontario west and questions why the two industries are even arguing with each other. He says, ‘You get these guys riled up like that and they’ll get a few people to come in and say, ‘Rah, rah, keep the Canadians at home!’ It’s a nice rallying cry but what they have to do is realize that, if we want to be a global market, we’ve got to be a global market. You can’t have protectionism here and not other places. I think, once we realize that, we’ll be off to the races.’
He suggests its up to US swine producers to rally behind the ITC determination and push for an end to this type of action.
Caspers says the NPPC is prepared to work with its counterpart, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), to resolve the US industry's concerns. ‘The two organizations do meet two times a year and that's been going on for more than a decade. Those discussions are always welcome. In fact, before NPPC brought these cases we made a special trip up to Ottawa and met with the Canadian Pork Council, a lot of their officers, just to see if there was something thatwe could do to correct this situation before we were essentially forced to bring these cases.’
In the meantime, Caspers says, NPPC will continue to look at this case. ‘I’d like to see some resolution to it and I'm sure our board is going to be willing to sit down and take a look at what can be done to mitigate some of these problems. We’re always willing to meet so hopefully there can be some resolution.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council
Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live
Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
The Veterinary Services Director with Iowa based Unique Swine System believes American producers will need to take a direct stand against further trade action against imported live Canadian swine. Dr. Tom Samp says the 5-0 ITC ruling is great for the independent U.S. producer, suggesting it was basically corporate hogs verses the independents.
He says, ‘Now that the independents will be able to access pigs from where they want there will be a lot more of them staying in business.’ However, he fears that the National Pork Producers Council may not yet be finished with the action. ‘They still are in denial that there weren’t any damages and there weren’t any subsidies. Basically they can still come back and visit again. Times get bad, they may bring it up again.’ ‘I guess, unless they get soundly defeated or the pork producers stand up and say, ‘We’re tired of you spending our money on frivolous things.’ I think they're still going to try and attack it.’Dr. Samp describes the United States as Southern Canada and Canada as the Northern United States from Ontario west and questions why the two industries are even arguing with each other. He says, ‘You get these guys riled up like that and they’ll get a few people to come in and say, ‘Rah, rah, keep the Canadians at home!’ It’s a nice rallying cry but what they have to do is realize that, if we want to be a global market, we’ve got to be a global market. You can’t have protectionism here and not other places. I think, once we realize that, we’ll be off to the races.’
He suggests its up to US swine producers to rally behind the ITC determination and push for an end to this type of action.
Caspers says the NPPC is prepared to work with its counterpart, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), to resolve the US industry's concerns. ‘The two organizations do meet two times a year and that's been going on for more than a decade. Those discussions are always welcome. In fact, before NPPC brought these cases we made a special trip up to Ottawa and met with the Canadian Pork Council, a lot of their officers, just to see if there was something thatwe could do to correct this situation before we were essentially forced to bring these cases.’
In the meantime, Caspers says, NPPC will continue to look at this case. ‘I’d like to see some resolution to it and I'm sure our board is going to be willing to sit down and take a look at what can be done to mitigate some of these problems. We’re always willing to meet so hopefully there can be some resolution.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live
Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
The Veterinary Services Director with Iowa based Unique Swine System believes American producers will need to take a direct stand against further trade action against imported live Canadian swine. Dr. Tom Samp says the 5-0 ITC ruling is great for the independent U.S. producer, suggesting it was basically corporate hogs verses the independents.
He says, ‘Now that the independents will be able to access pigs from where they want there will be a lot more of them staying in business.’ However, he fears that the National Pork Producers Council may not yet be finished with the action. ‘They still are in denial that there weren’t any damages and there weren’t any subsidies. Basically they can still come back and visit again. Times get bad, they may bring it up again.’ ‘I guess, unless they get soundly defeated or the pork producers stand up and say, ‘We’re tired of you spending our money on frivolous things.’ I think they're still going to try and attack it.’Dr. Samp describes the United States as Southern Canada and Canada as the Northern United States from Ontario west and questions why the two industries are even arguing with each other. He says, ‘You get these guys riled up like that and they’ll get a few people to come in and say, ‘Rah, rah, keep the Canadians at home!’ It’s a nice rallying cry but what they have to do is realize that, if we want to be a global market, we’ve got to be a global market. You can’t have protectionism here and not other places. I think, once we realize that, we’ll be off to the races.’
He suggests its up to US swine producers to rally behind the ITC determination and push for an end to this type of action.
Caspers says the NPPC is prepared to work with its counterpart, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), to resolve the US industry's concerns. ‘The two organizations do meet two times a year and that's been going on for more than a decade. Those discussions are always welcome. In fact, before NPPC brought these cases we made a special trip up to Ottawa and met with the Canadian Pork Council, a lot of their officers, just to see if there was something thatwe could do to correct this situation before we were essentially forced to bring these cases.’
In the meantime, Caspers says, NPPC will continue to look at this case. ‘I’d like to see some resolution to it and I'm sure our board is going to be willing to sit down and take a look at what can be done to mitigate some of these problems. We’re always willing to meet so hopefully there can be some resolution.’
Imported live Canadian swine issue continues to polarize US pork industry
April 16, 2005
Farmscape Article 1780
With the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled to release written reasons later this month for its decision to end antidumping duties on imported live Canadian swine, the issue of imported live Canadian swine continues to divide American producers.
On April 6th, in its final injury determination, the ITC ruled imported live
Canadian slaughter hogs, weanling pigs and feeder pigs do not harm or threaten
imminent harm to American pork producers. Reaction among US producers to the 5-0 vote, has ranged from disappointment to elation.
National Pork Producers Council Disappointed with ITC Final Determination
National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Past President Jon Caspers says,
‘We're disappointed. We thought we had a good case although I guess some of the short term favorable economic conditions we've had, certainly the hog prices, have made it more difficult to prove injury and I assume that probably had an impact on the determination.’
He adds the NPPC's Board of Directors will want to review the ITC's written finding, scheduled for release April 18th, before deciding on its next course of action. ‘I think the board will take a look at that and maybe we can glean from that why they changed their vote because, on the preliminary determination about a year ago, they voted six to nothing the other way. We’ll look at that and evaluate that and decide some kind of a course of action, I guess, after that. Certainly the thinking of the commission would have a determination on whether they decide to appeal that or not. There’ll be other factors, I guess, but certainly that’ll be one thing I’m sure they’ll want to take a look at.’
US Industry Concerns Still Outstanding
Caspers says, despite the ruling, the concerns that prompted the action, remain unresolved. ‘The problem, as we see it, there’s still this structure in place that seems to place the industries on the two sides of the border in a different economic scenario. Certainly the market signals are not reacting the same way one the north side of the border as they are on the south side and that difficulty still exists.’
The Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) hopes the ruling will end the fight once and for all, ushering in the beginning of a new era of open agricultural trade. John Block, the official spokesman for the Pork Trade Action Coalition and a former U.S. Agriculture Secretary in the Reagan administration and, says he is ‘Delighted with the decision. A 5-0 ruling is pretty direct.’
Block adds, ‘What it is suggesting to the industry in the United States and Canada to some extent, is this is behind us now. Regardless of what the written remarks say, I think it’s over with and I think the time is here for us to sit down and start working closer together and resolving our differences, and there’ll always be some, without going through the big fights and the bureaucracy and so forth we've seen here.’ Block points out, ‘In the United States our farmers and ranchers are exporting close to 30 percent of what we produce and grow. Any country that exports that much of what we produce and grow has got to be always working to keep trade channels open.’
‘Anything that closes trade channels will come back and bite you one way or another. When something happens on one side then it's tit for tat, back and forth and you get a trade channel closed down. A perfect example is what we’ve gone through with the BSE or mad cow disease.’
‘The sooner we can get this border open and I know, at this point in time
anyway, it’s not the United States government's fault. It's in the courts now and we've got to get through that. We need to get this open because we’re only kidding ourselves if we think the Japanese are going to buy our beef if we won’t buy Canadian beef.’Block concludes, ‘I think we've got to get some movement on this stuff and I'm hopeful that with this decision on pork, maybe we can move ahead and get the beef trade channels open back up then we’re kind of on the road.’
The Veterinary Services Director with Iowa based Unique Swine System believes American producers will need to take a direct stand against further trade action against imported live Canadian swine. Dr. Tom Samp says the 5-0 ITC ruling is great for the independent U.S. producer, suggesting it was basically corporate hogs verses the independents.
He says, ‘Now that the independents will be able to access pigs from where they want there will be a lot more of them staying in business.’ However, he fears that the National Pork Producers Council may not yet be finished with the action. ‘They still are in denial that there weren’t any damages and there weren’t any subsidies. Basically they can still come back and visit again. Times get bad, they may bring it up again.’ ‘I guess, unless they get soundly defeated or the pork producers stand up and say, ‘We’re tired of you spending our money on frivolous things.’ I think they're still going to try and attack it.’Dr. Samp describes the United States as Southern Canada and Canada as the Northern United States from Ontario west and questions why the two industries are even arguing with each other. He says, ‘You get these guys riled up like that and they’ll get a few people to come in and say, ‘Rah, rah, keep the Canadians at home!’ It’s a nice rallying cry but what they have to do is realize that, if we want to be a global market, we’ve got to be a global market. You can’t have protectionism here and not other places. I think, once we realize that, we’ll be off to the races.’
He suggests its up to US swine producers to rally behind the ITC determination and push for an end to this type of action.
Caspers says the NPPC is prepared to work with its counterpart, the Canadian Pork Council (CPC), to resolve the US industry's concerns. ‘The two organizations do meet two times a year and that's been going on for more than a decade. Those discussions are always welcome. In fact, before NPPC brought these cases we made a special trip up to Ottawa and met with the Canadian Pork Council, a lot of their officers, just to see if there was something thatwe could do to correct this situation before we were essentially forced to bring these cases.’
In the meantime, Caspers says, NPPC will continue to look at this case. ‘I’d like to see some resolution to it and I'm sure our board is going to be willing to sit down and take a look at what can be done to mitigate some of these problems. We’re always willing to meet so hopefully there can be some resolution.’
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