Dairy Companies Urge Congress to Reform COOL
The World Trade Organization's final ruling against the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule will cause severe economic harm to U.S. manufacturing and agriculture without immediate congressional intervention, said the International Dairy Foods Association. With this final ruling, Canada and Mexico, America's two largest export markets, will promptly move to institute retaliatory tariffs worth billions of dollars on U.S. food, agricultural and manufactured goods.
Canada and Mexico had challenged the rule for muscle cuts of meat at the WTO, arguing that COOL has a trade-distorting impact by reducing the value and number of cattle and hogs shipped to the U.S. market. The WTO found the United States to be in noncompliance with its international trade obligations. The ruling is a concern to the U.S. dairy industry because of potential retaliation against U.S. dairy exports.
Canada has already issued a preliminary retaliation list targeting a broad spectrum of commodities and manufactured products, including dairy, which would affect every state in the country. Mexico has not yet announced a preliminary retaliation list but has implemented retaliatory tariffs in the past, which may be indicative of future tariff actions.
IDFA has joined with business leaders from all sectors of the American economy in urging immediate congressional intervention to bring the United States into compliance on COOL. In a letter sent to the U.S. Senate last week, the Coalition for COOL Reform urged senators to prepare to act quickly on legislation.