Some might be worried about the fights being started overseas but what about the one right in our own back yard? On Tuesday, President Trump attacked Canada about their tax on ultra-filtered milk. It wasn’t long until Trump took to Twitter about his outrage over the dairy tax.
Canada has made business for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin and other border states very difficult. We will not stand for this. Watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017
It was just last week that Trump made comments on the dairy issue. He called it a “disgrace” and even went as far as to blame the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump stood up for dairy farmers saying, “What they’ve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. It’s a disgrace.”
Yet this issue about dairy tax is just one of many issues that Trump has with the free trade agreement. He made his feelings about the free trade agreement known when he rallied against it during his campaign.
So, what is his plan? The president said on Monday that Canada can expect new tariffs. Trump and his administration say that they plan on placing new tariffs on softwood lumber that goes from the United States into Canada.
Which his reaction isn’t really all that surprising. Yet how much is this tariff going to be? Well, the Department of Commerce says that a “countervailing duty” of 3 to 24 percent would be imposed on Canadian lumber exporters.
Wilbur Ross is the Commerce Secretary and says that there could be at least $1 billion duties on softwood lumber. He says that with that large of an amount it would be a “bad week for U.S.-Canada trade relations.” Of course, Canada’s dairy tax is to blame for this harsh move.
As for Canada, it had a quick response to the president. The country made a statement on the issue Monday, and it doesn’t seem like the Canadian government is going to take things lying down. The spokesperson said that Canada will “vigorously defend the interests of the Canadian softwood lumber industry, including through litigation.”
