National
Corn Growers, Grains Council, Corn Refiners Call Canadian Investigation ‘Fundamentally
Flawed’
(9-20-05)
The National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA), U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and Corn Refiners
Association (CRA) today said the Canada Border Services Agency’s
(CBSA) decision to initiate an investigation into alleged injurious
dumping and subsidizing of grain corn by the United States is fundamentally
flawed.
“The reality is this will end up hurting the Canadian agricultural
industry as much as it hurts the U.S. agricultural industry,” said
Rick Tolman, NCGA CEO. “Canada has expanding livestock, ethanol
and corn processing industries that rely on U.S. corn. Our countries
have similar trade philosophies and as NAFTA partners, we should
be working close together, especially going into the WTO talks.”
The complaint
was filed by the Ontario Corn Producers’ Association,
the Federation des producteurs de cultures commerciales du Quebec
and the Manitoba Corn Growers Association Inc. The associations allege
dumping and subsidizing of grain corn in all forms from the United
States is harming Canadian corn producers.
Grain corn in
all forms includes whole kernel corn and grain corn that have been
processed in a limited way by cracking, crushing, rolling, grinding
or flaking and includes ground corn such as corn flour, corn grits,
corn meal, corn bran, sharps and other residues, corn which is
hulled, sliced or kibbled, as well as grain corn mixed with other
grains and oilseed (such as millet) that can be separated from
the grain corn after importation. The product definition also includes
white dent corn.
“Negotiation is always preferable to litigation. Our respective
grain sectors have much more to gain from working collaboratively
to open new markets for the grain sector and its valued-added products,” said
Audrae Erickson, CRA president.
The CBSA on
Sept. 16 initiated the investigation under the Special Import Measures
Act.
“The argument that Canada’s corn growers are being injured
by imports at low prices is flawed,” said Kenneth Hobbie, USGC
President and CEO. “If Canadian producers are unable to compete
with U.S. grain corn, we would expect to see significant and steady
increases in imports over the past several years while Canadian corn
production would post declines. However, this has not been the case.”
According to
a joint statement made by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary
Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, the United
States is disappointed by Canada's decision to proceed with a formal
investigation and does not believe the investigation is justified.
The government said it will defend the interest of the U.S. corn
producers and exports during the investigation.
Canadian imports
of U.S. corn are down over the past two years. Average corn imports
from the United States between 2000 and 2003 were approximately
140 million bushels per year, dropping to 85 million bushels during
the past two years. two years. The forecast for next year is 103
million bushels. While Canada's corn production has increased, its
domestic corn demand still cannot be met through domestic production
alone, according to Portman and Johanns.
The investigation is expected to take several months to complete.