Cramer: Canada To Allow Rail Performance Mandates To Expire

Press Release

Congressman Kevin Cramer today said the Canadian government has indicated they will allow their grain-by-rail shipment performance mandates to expire at the end of November, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Cramer strongly opposes the mandates, and has warned about their potential role in worsening the grain car backlog in North Dakota by encouraging Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) Railroads to serve their Canadian customers at the expense of American customers.

In March of this year, Canada required CP and CN to deliver 500,000 metric tonnes of Canadian grain on a weekly basis, or face daily fines. The delivery requirement was later increased to 536,250 tonnes this past August, with the mandates set to expire on November 29th. Cramer began communicating his concerns with the mandates to Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer and the Canadian Parliament shortly after their creation, and persisted by requesting assistance from the Surface and Transportation Board, as well as U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. In response, Chairman Elliott and Commissioner Begeman said they appreciated Cramer's views regarding the performance mandates, with Commissioner Begeman indicating she will continue to follow the matter closely.

"Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has now stated the performance mandates will be lifted after November 29, barring any unforeseen circumstances," said Cramer. "This is an encouraging step from the Canadian government. Their rail mandate constitutes a clear violation of the non-discrimination and fair trade principles laid out by the World Trade Organization, and confers an unfair advantage to Canadian producers, undermining free trade and competition within the United States and Canada. I will continue to watch this situation closely to ensure the Canadian government lapses these mandates on November 29th."

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