Press Release - Clinton Releases Report that Details Crippling Canadian Trade Barriers

Press Release - Clinton Releases Report that Details Crippling Canadian Trade Barriers

Report Shows Almost All New York-Grown Products - Including Apples and other Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy and Wine - Face Barriers to Trade with Canada, Impacting Sales and Growth

Senator Calls on Canadian Government to Remove Unfair Trade Barriers to New York Farmers and Introduces Legislation to Study the Impact of America's Trade Agreements

Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today released a report that details the devastating impact of Canadian trade practices on New York's farmers and growers.

The report, compiled by the Senator's office, with the help of the New York Apple Association, the New York Horticulture Society, the Northeast Council of Dairy Cooperatives, the New York Farm Bureau and the Empire State Potato Growers, details the impact of Canadian subsidies and trade barriers on dairy, fruits, vegetables, wine and agricultural products and concludes that while Canadian growers have little problem accessing New York markets for their produce, New York farmers and growers experience severe restrictions on selling their products in Canada.

A full copy of the report, along with a list of farmers and trade organizations who contributed to its contents can be found here.

"Years after we signed a Free Trade Agreement with Canada, our farmers and growers have not seen Canadian markets opened or sales to Canada increasing. Instead, when they look to Canada, they might as well see a huge ‘closed for business' sign. For many upstate New York producers, Canada is their closest major metropolitan market but New York farmers face incredible challenges when they attempt to export their products over the border," Senator Clinton said.

As early as 2002, Senator Clinton urged the United States Trade Representative to address Canadian bulk exemption trade barriers that affected New York apple growers, who agreed at the time that action should be taken.

"These barriers are unfair and unjustified and they are hurting New York's farmers who deserve fair market access. The Canadian Government must address these costly and time consuming barriers to trade with New York, which are unfairly disadvantaging New York producers," Senator Clinton said.

The Senator's report identifies several examples of Canadian trade barriers that effectively keep New York dairy, fruits and vegetables, wine and horticultural products from entering the Canadian market. The magnitude of Canadian trade barriers is especially striking when one compares the example of New York apple exports to Canada with New York apple exports to the United Kingdom. New York ships two to three times more apples to the United Kingdom than to Canada, despite the fact that New York shares a border with Canada with markets mere miles away, while the United Kingdom is thousands of miles away and across the Atlantic Ocean.

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http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=264008&&