October 27, 2004

Letter to the Editor of the Wall Street Journal

To the Editor:

Your Oct. 26 editorial “Pork and Protectionism” contained a number of inaccuracies that must be addressed. The countervailing and anti-dumping petition brought by American pork producers against live hog imports from Canada was initiated by 23 state pork associations, which represent over 85 percent of total U.S. hog production and thousands of pork producers of all sizes throughout the country.

The recent finding by the U.S. Department of Commerce that Canadians were dumping their live hogs into the U.S. at a rate of 14 percent is not surprising and is a result of the Canadian government’s generous subsidies. The numbers do not lie. Since 1999, Canada has had 23 quarters of growth in their breeding herd. As a result of this increasing herd, Canadians exported their hogs to the U.S. in increasing numbers and at dumped prices. Over this same time period, the U.S. herd size declined.

Unfortunately, the editorial writers of the Wall Street Journal have apparently accepted lock, stock and barrel the propaganda of the Pork Action Trade Coalition without checking the facts. In no way does the Pork Trade Action Coalition represent “hundreds of small American finishers” as the editorial claims. According to their website, the Pork Trade Action Coalition has nine members: three from Iowa, and one representative each from Montana, Oregon and Washington. The other three members are the Canadian Pork Council; the Ontario Pork Council and Manitoba Pork. The Canadians have publicly announced efforts to raise and spend millions of dollars to oppose the efforts of U.S. producers.  

The editorial suggests that U.S. pork producers have brought this action as a means to get the Byrd Amendment monies. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our objective is very simple – we want the federal and provincial governments of Canada to terminate their subsidy programs. U.S. pork producers are not seeking to close the border to live hog imports as the Pork Action Trade Coalition is suggesting. We can compete with Canadian pork producers, we cannot compete with the Canadian government.

Sincerely,

Jon Caspers
Immediate Past President, National Pork Producers Council
Swaledale, Iowa

Read Wall Street Journal Editorial "Pork and Protectionism"