(President Donald Trump had tough words about Canada’s supply management system during a news conference at the G7 summit on Saturday in La Malbaie, Que. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
‘We don’t want to pay anything, why should we pay anything?’ Trump says of Canadian tariffs on dairy products
John Paul Tasker ·
CBC News ·
U.S. President Donald Trump says Canada will have to dismantle its supply-managed dairy system or else Americans will dramatically curtail its trading relationship — a shot across the bow at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has vocally defended the country’s existing agricultural policies in the face of U.S. opposition.
“No tariffs, no barriers, that’s the way it should be and no subsidies. In other words, let’s say Canada, where we have tremendous tariffs. The U.S. pays tremendous tariffs on dairy, as an example, 270 per cent … we don’t want to pay anything, why should we pay anything?” Trump said, referencing the Canadian tariff imposed on U.S. and foreign milk imports.
Canada levies a tariff of 270 per cent on milk, 245 per cent on cheese and 298 per cent on butter in an effort to keep imports out and tightly control supply.
“It’s very unfair to our farmers. Our farmers, whether it’s through a non-tariff trade barrier or whether it’s through very high tariffs … You can’t do that. It’s going to stop, or we’ll stop trading,” he said. “You look at our farmers. For 15 years, the graph has gone just like this, down.”
