Canada has been awarded the right to seek $1 billion in trade sanctions against the United States by a World Trade Organization panel in a dispute over American meat-labelling rules that single out foreign beef and pork.
The Liberal government said it will “quickly take steps to retaliate” against the U.S. if the labelling requirements aren’t dropped promptly — a condition the lead American senator on agriculture issues said he will do his utmost to satisfy before Canada imposes tariffs.
At issue is the U.S.’s mandatory labelling for packaged steaks and other cuts of meat, which requires grocery stickers explaining where livestock was born, raised and slaughtered.
Labelling defenders say consumers deserve to know where their meat comes from. Opponents, including Canada and Mexico, say it’s simple protectionism, designed to suppress foreign-sourced meat in the U.S. market without any food-safety or inspection benefits.
The WTO arbitration panel said Monday the annual losses to Canadian cattle, pig and hog producers as a result of the U.S. country of origin labelling laws amount to $1.054 billion — an amount Canada can now seek to reclaim by slapping tariffs on certain imports from the U.S.
International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay welcomed the ruling in a joint statement.
Country of origin labelling harms Canadian and Mexican livestock producers, as well as U.S. processors and producers. It also disrupts the highly integrated North American meat industry supply chain, the release said.Â
Canada WTO trade sanctions against U.S. over meat-labelling rules