Farm-Scape is sponsored by Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork Play Audio Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.

Farm-Scape, Episode 1494

The Canadian Pork Council is vowing to defend Canadian hog producers in the wake of the US Commerce Department's decision to formally investigate the impact of imported Canadian live hogs on the US market.

The US Department of Commerce has initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into imported live Canadian hogs.

Petitions filed by the US based National Pork Producers Council, on behalf of American producers, allege subsidized Canadian weanling pigs and slaughter hogs are being dumped into the US, lowering US prices and harming American producers.

Canadian Pork Council President Edouard Asnong says Canada has done everything possible to ensure its programs comply with international trade rules.

"We are preparing ourselves to react and to make a good defense. What we have done and what we have developed, we have always been very careful to not develop programs that we can be challenged on.

Like the CAIS program, when that program was developed it was in consultation with our trade lawyers in Ottawa and also with our lawyers in Washington to make sure that would be acceptable. Unfortunately we are accused of unfair trade but we have taken all of the precautionary measures to prevent that".

The US International Trade Commission is scheduled to issue a preliminary determination, May 3'rd, on whether the US industry was injured as a result of the imports.

If it determines there is a reasonable indication that live swine imports from Canada are causing material injury to the US industry or threatening to do so, the case will continue.

In that event the US Commerce Department will issue a preliminary ruling on countervailing duties on June 11th and a preliminary ruling on anti-dumping duties on August 25th.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.