President Trump signed an executive order on 8 September banning some Canadian dairy products outright from the United States, the latest move in the trade war between the two countries. The order rests on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which grants the president that authority.

Further executive orders covering motorcycles and alcohol take effect on 29 September, and Canadian products are being made ineligible for some US government contracts "unless Canada restores full and fair reciprocity for American Farmers and Companies," the president said in a social-media post.

The measures answer Canada's latest round of counter-tariffs, which took effect at midnight on 8 September and target about C$28 billion of American goods in response to US duties on Canadian products.

Dairy groups on the two sides of the border have taken opposite positions all year. At the end of August the National Milk Producers Federation and the US Dairy Export Council thanked the administration for keeping up pressure on Canada. "We appreciate the Administration's persistence in standing up for American dairy producers and exporters who have waited far too long for Canada to live up to its promises," said Krysta Harden, USDEC's president and a former US deputy agriculture secretary.

Dairy Farmers of Canada and the Dairy Processors Association of Canada said earlier in August that they back Ottawa's resistance. "We won't apologize for wanting a strong Canadian dairy sector that ensures a reliable supply of milk from Canadian farms, produced to Canadian standards while contributing to Canada's economy and the vitality of its rural communities," said DFC president David Wiens. Diego Flammini reported the story for Farms.com.

Photo: M. Rehemtulla / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Source: Farms.com