Jim Slattery on Free Trade Democratic Senate Challenger

Promote fair trade restricting Canadian wheat.

Congressional Summary:Declares that the US Government should take action to address the problem of Canadian wheat imports if the Secretary of Agriculture has reason to believe that wheat is being imported from Canada under such conditions as to render ineffective any loan, purchase, or other program or operation undertaken by the Department of Agriculture. Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that:

1. the US Government should seek an immediate understanding with the Mexican Government to define certain Canadian wheat practices as unfair;
2. the United States, Canada, and Mexico should begin immediate consultations with a goal of ensuring free and fair trade in wheat throughout North America; and
3. transportation subsidies and secretive monopolistic pricing should be considered unfair trading practices.

OnTheIssues Summary: Many foreign governments consider the "loan, purchase, or other program" by the USDA to be agricultural subsidies which are disallowed under international trade agreements. Agricultural subsidies are the most contentious trade issues among industrialized countries -- and the US' agricultural subsidies are no exception. The Congressmen sponsoring this bill are primarily from agricultural states where their constituents are the recipients of the USDA's "loan, purchase, or other program."