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 1541

The Washington, DC legal firm representing Canadian swine producers in a US countervail and antidumping case is expressing confidence in the strength of Canada's defense.

Willkie, Farr and Gallagher is working on behalf of Manitoba Pork Council and producers named in a US government investigation of allegations that illegally subsidized Canadian live hogs being dumped into the US are hurting US producers.

Daniel Porter says, under the law, investigators must find the Canadian swine industry received illegal government subsidies, that Canadian exporters dumped hogs into the US and that the US industry suffered injury.

"In reality there really aren't many subsidies given to the swine industry. When all is said and done, the US government is just not going to find that much has been given to the swine industry so the subsidy rate will be very low. The second key factor is that the volume that is shipped from Canada is actually quite small relative to the entire US market.

The International Trade Commission is used to seeing cases in which the importer product at issue has 20 to 30 percent market share. In this case the Canadians only have two to three percent market share and the questions is, 'how can such a small market share harm the US industry?'

The final factor that will be favorable to Canadians in this case is that when the international trade commission looks at the key question of whether the US hog industry is suffering material injury in a few months I think they'll see, because of the recent upturn, that the US hog industry is actually doing quite well now and therefor they're not that deserving of having this very extra special relief imposed."

Porter says a recent similar investigation of imported live Canadian Cattle found there was no subsidization. He says, while it did find dumping ranging from five to 13 percent, it determined the imports were not harming US producers and he's confident the case against swine will result in a similar outcome.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.