News Releases for December 2002
December 17, 2002
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Hoeven: U.S. Trade Representative Initiates Action Against CWB In World Trade Organization
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today received word from U.S. Trade Ambassador Allen Johnson that the U.S. is filing an action against Canada in the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the monopolistic wheat trading practices of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). Johnson is the chief agriculture negotiator for U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick.
“This is important in that it shows that the U.S. Trade Representative is moving in the right direction,” Hoeven said. “We will now have an opportunity to take our case before an international forum and prove that the CWB engages in monopolistic trade practices.”
Hoeven has been urging Zoellick and Johnson to take the action since the USTR began its investigation of Canadian wheat trading practices prompted by a complaint filed by the North Dakota Wheat Commission. In February 2002, the USTR issued an affirmative finding that the CWB “has taken sales from U.S. farmers…and has a competitive advantage due to its monopoly control over a guaranteed supply of wheat.”
Johnson notified Hoeven that the United States would charge that the CWB enjoys benefits and privileges that place American farmers at a disadvantage in the international marketplace. The United States would also challenge as unfair and burdensome Canada’s requirement that grain imported to that country be segregated in the Canadian grain handling system. In addition, the United States is charging that Canada discriminates in giving railroad access to American grain.
“The WTO is the place to address the long-term solution, so that our farmers have a level playing field in the future,” Hoeven said. “In the near term, we believe that the U.S. Commerce Department’s investigation of Canadian wheat sales will result in countervailing duties to address the problem of CWB selling below the cost of production by midsummer.”
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