President Donald Trump called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Thursday to discuss how to address Canada's "unfair" dairy pricing programs, Schumer, D-N.Y., confirmed in a statement released Friday.聽
"It is an unwise policy that violates our agreements and hurts our farmers, and we agreed to work together to immediately address the issue," Schumer said of his conversation with Trump.聽
President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have their differences, but …
Schumer said he suggested including House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, in the discussion about how to address Canada's trade rules affecting U.S. dairy farmers. Wisconsin, like New York, is a top dairy producing state.聽
Canada has adopted dairy pricing rules that favor domestic production of ultra-filtered milk, which is used to make cheese. Because of this, it's had a negative impact on several U.S. dairy producers, including Cayuga Milk Ingredients in Aurelius.聽
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Kevin Ellis, CEO of Cayuga Milk Ingredients, said Wednesday that the because of the new pricing policy. Other producers in New York and Wisconsin have reported losses.聽
The Canadian government has defended its pricing program and attributed the losses reported by U.S. producers to global overproduction.聽
Schumer and first raised concerns about Canada's attempts to limit imports of ultra-filtered milk. He urged then-President Barack Obama and his administration to take action and adopted by Canada.聽
Kevin Ellis knew his company, Cayuga Milk Ingredients in Aurelius, would take a hit when Can…
He also said that Canada may be in violation of existing trade accords, including the North American Free Trade Agreement.聽
Trump, a critic of NAFTA, has called Canada's dairy pricing plan "very unfair."
"We can all agree that it is critical to level the playing field for our hardworking dairy farmers and make sure our Canadian neighbors rescind their unfair policy and again play by the rules," Schumer said.聽
