Two major priorities of R-Calf For NAFTA

Two major priorities of R-Calf For NAFTA

Susan Allen
Susan Allen
With your Land and Livestock Report, I'm Susan Allen. Two major priorities of R-CALF for the new North American Free Trade Agreement includes reinstatement of Country of Origin Labeling as well as a change in the rule of origin in the agreement. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard says in order to have free and open markets, both of those must be in the new NAFTA

Bullard: We must have transparency in the market place and that cannot happen without Country of Origin Labels. Second we need to change the rule of origin that currently allows US beef packer to import live animals from Canada and Mexico unload them at the packing house gate after they are harvested but a USA label on the meat from all those animals.

He says the new NAFTA also needs provisions to ensure food safety and allow for snapback tariffs for market recovery when cattle prices are depressed.

Bullard: What we need are snapback provisions to reinstate tariffs. If our cattle prices are depressed below a certain level.Those tariffs then would allow us to recover in the market place. Then we need to look at how we strengthen food safety laws because we are finding trouble in Canada and Mexico with respect to sanitation in their food processing industries.

Bullard also says President Trump is correct in calling for addressing the trade deficit the U.S. has experienced with the original NAFTA which has grown to $ 32 billion dollars.

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