(Saskatoon "Star Phoenix")
The
U.S. Senate on Thursday [3 March] delivered Canada's cattle industry its second major setback in two days by voting to kill the Bush administration's plans to re-open the American border to Canadian live
cattle shipments.
By a 52-46 margin, senators approved a bipartisan resolution to strike down a U.S. Department of Agriculture's regulation lifting a 22-month trade ban. The move created the
possibility of legislative showdown with President George W. Bush, who immediately threatened to veto the resolution if it is also approved by the House of Representatives.
In a sharply worded policy
statement, the White House said that any decision "which would prevent the re-opening of our Canadian border would cause continued serious economic disruption of the U.S. beef and cattle industry."
Senators who oppose re-opening the border would need a two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto. Mike Johanns, Bush's agriculture secretary, said he was "very disappointed" with
the Senate decision because it "undermines the U.S. efforts to promote science-based regulations."
The Senate vote came one day after a Montana judge granted an injunction, at the request of
R-CA United Stockgrowers of America, to block plans to allow Canada to resume on Monday exports of live cattle under 30 months of age.
Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, dismissed
suggestions that opposition to Canadian beef was tied to Ottawa's decision to reject participation in Bush's missile defence system.
In Ottawa, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said the federal
government would be ready to deliver additional farm aid to Canadian cattle producers if the U.S. border remained closed and existing programs proved insufficient.
If the Bush administration
government cannot successfully appeal the Montana court decision, it's possible the federal government and Canada cattle producers could appeal through the World Trade Organization.
"If I were
the Canadian industry I would be looking very seriously at my rights under the very controversial -- but very meaningful in this context -- provisions of Chapter 11 under NAFTA," said Christopher Kent,
an Ottawa-based trade lawyer. Chapter 11 allows private parties the right to sue foreign governments for acts that hurt the parties' investment rights. |
