CWB unsatisfied by U.S. import tariff cut

CWB unsatisfied by U.S. import tariff cut    The Canadian Wheat Board said Tuesday that a cut of 2.75 percentage points to the U.S. tariff on Canadian wheat “falls short of giving Prairie farmers the access they deserve to the American market.”
   On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce said it will lower the level of countervailing duties on imports of Canadian hard red spring wheat to 2.54 percent from 5.29 percent.
   In June, a North American Free Trade Agreement panel found that imports of Canadian hard red spring wheat cause no injury to U.S. producers, and could find “no substantial evidence” to support the wheat tariff.
   “We remain adamant that there is no basis for this tariff at all,” said Ken Ritter, chairman of the CWB. “By our calculations, this countervailing duty should be at zero. The U.S. government has done some pretty creative accounting to keep it in place at all.”
   The CWB estimates that the ongoing loss of the American market will lower returns for western Canadian wheat by about C$50 million ($41.2 million) a year. Before the tariff was imposed, about one million tons of Canada Western Red Spring wheat was sold into the United States each year, worth about $250 million ($206 million), the CWB said.
   “We will keep fighting on behalf of western Canadian farmers until this tariff is completely removed,” Ritter said. “We are very hopeful that the outcome of our other NAFTA appeal will see that happen before the year is out.”