NCGA Pleased with USTR Action to Seek WTO Consultation (3-20-06)

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is pleased with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman’s action late last week seeking World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations with Canada over the countervailing and antidumping case brought against the U.S. corn industry.

Last week, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) upheld a provisional duty of $1.65 per bushel on U.S. corn. The decision comes in response to allegations that U.S. dumping and subsidizing of grain corn harms Canadian producers. The CBSA said it will continue to impose the duty on U.S. corn imports until the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) concludes its inquiry regarding injury to Canadian production. The tribunal's public hearings will begin March 20, with a decision expected by April 18.
“USTR has always looked out for the interests of agriculture and the corn industry. NCGA is pleased with the action USTR has taken in requesting WTO consultation and is moving forward in the process of proving the Canadian corn case is in violation of WTO rules,” said Leon Corzine, NCGA chairman. “NCGA and the U.S. Corn Coalition have always maintained there is no evidence to show injury to Canadian farmers by U.S. corn imports and the process by which the Canadian government brought the case is faulty. We are confident that facts of the case will be brought forward during the consultation period.”

According to the USTR statement, under WTO rules, provisional antidumping and countervailing duties cannot be imposed unless there is a preliminary finding the imports have injured domestic producers. “In its injury finding in this case, the CITT appears not to have considered a number of factors required by WTO rules.  In addition, the CITT declined to examine relevant evidence that other factors, and not U.S. imports, were injuring Canadian corn growers, such as exchange rate movements and unusually large world corn harvests. This would not appear to be consistent with WTO rules requiring that such evidence be taken into account.”

On Feb. 23, the U.S. Corn Coalition submitted testimony stating the evidence does not show Canadian growers have been injured by imports of grain corn from the United States. In fact, the evidence shows that imports of U.S. corn have declined substantially over the 2002-2005 time period.
The coalition, urging the tribunal to dismiss the case and immediately rescind the duties placed on the U.S. grain corn imports, said the determination and reasons cited by the CITT at the conclusion of the preliminary injury phase of the inquiry do not meet the legal standards for imposing antidumping or countervailing duties under Canada’s Special Import Measures Act (SIMA).
The consultation process is to last no more than 60 days and is designed to act as a preliminary move by a government to have arguments rectified under the WTO rules.