(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump said last week that Canada has tariffs in place at above 200% on dairy products imported from the U.S.
“Canada is cheating the United States Farmers on USMCA,” Trump wrote in a Friday post on Truth Social. “In 2024, Canada retained Tariffs on various U.S. Goods, particularly in protected sectors like Dairy that are operated under a supply management system. Some examples of Canadian Tariffs on U.S. Dairy outside of the limited quota include: Milk: Up to 243% …. Butter: Up to 298% …. Cheese: Up to 245%.”
It’s a little more complicated.
Those Canadian tariffs on U.S. dairy imports apply only after the U.S. hits a level of tariff-free sales.
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It was a deal Trump negotiated in 2018 during his first term in office.
CNN reports that in many categories, including milk, the U.S. is not even at half of the zero-tariff maximum.
“It is accurate that Canada imposes a tariff of approximately 250% on U.S. exports of certain dairy products into Canada, and even more with Canada’s 25% retaliatory tariffs in place,” a March 7 statement from the International Dairy Foods Association read in part. “However, that tariff would only apply if we were able to reach and exceed the quota on U.S. dairy exports agreed to under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Frustratingly, the U.S. has never gotten close to exceeding our USMCA quotas because Canada has erected various protectionist measures that fly in the face of their trade obligations made under USMCA.”
Trump has given a variety of explanations for targeting Canada in recent weeks. He has said that his separate 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada, some of which are suspended for a month, are about fentanyl smuggling and objections to Canada putting high taxes on dairy imports that penalize U.S. farmers.
