on dairy products imported from the US. But Trump again failed to mention a critical fact.
, the US is not hitting its allowed zero-tariff maximum in any category of dairy product.
, the US is not even at half of the zero-tariff maximum.
, an expert on Canadian agricultural trade, said in an email Friday.
Trump also made a claim that is simply false. He told reporters Friday that the situation with Canadian dairy tariffs was “well taken care of” at the time his first presidency ended, “but under Biden, they just kept raising it.”
“the best trade deal ever made.”
The White House did not respond to ’s Friday request for comment.
he will impose reciprocal tariffs on countries around the world.
Trump’s USMCA left Canada’s high dairy tariffs in place
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that support Canadian farmers and protect its dairy, egg and poultry industries from foreign competition.
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the quota thresholds. And contrary to Trump’s Friday claim, those tariffs didn’t spike under Biden.
(the first calendar year of Trump’s first term, before the USMCA was in place). They show the dairy tariff levels were the same each year for imports above the zero-tariff maximums – for example, 298.5% for above-maximum butter and 245.5% for above-maximum cheddar cheese.
, which represents the American dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, pointed out Friday that the US is not at Canada’s zero-tariff maximum in any category.
, the organization’s senior vice president of trade and workforce policy, argued in an interview that Canada is to blame for the inability of the US to get to the maximums, saying Canada is unfairly deploying obstacles that make it “harder and harder” for the US to sell into the Canadian market. She said that while “we don’t love the tariffs,” the primary issue is that “we can never even fill the quota to begin with” because Canada is using administrative tactics to deny the US the market access it is supposed to have under the USMCA.
at a USMCA dispute resolution panel. Regardless, Trump’s assertion that Canada kept hiking its dairy tariffs when Biden was in charge is just not true.
‘Almost all’ US agricultural exports to Canada face no tariffs
Canada’s protectionism over its dairy, egg and poultry industries is an exception, not the norm.
to the smattering of Canadian markets that are governed by supply management.
worth in 2024.
for dairy, purchasing about $1.1 billion worth in 2024. That figure has grown steadily over the past decade, from about $625.5 million in 2015.
