Trade issues: US senator calls for probe of alleged Canadian potato dumping

US and Canadian trade negotiators might need to add spuds to a list that already includes cheese, steel and softwood lumber, according to a news report published by the Cochrane Times-Post. A Republican senator has reportedly asked his government to investigate allegations by American farmers that Canadians are illegally dumping potatoes into their market, potentially opening a new front in the two nations’ trade war. A Democratic member of the senate has added her voice, too, suggesting there’s a “strong case” that Canadians are unfairly taking away American share of the tuber market. US producers point to the surge in imports from across the border in recent years, and say they suspect the lower price of Canadian potatoes is due to government subsidies or dumping. And they charge that Canadian rules have all but closed the market here to them. Canadian farmers reportedly responded that they are partly just benefiting from a favourable exchange rate, and say there is nothing to the subsidy allegation. Read full media report