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U.S. Commerce Department Imposes 1.6–5% Countervailing Duties on Canadian Fresh Mushrooms After Finding Subsidies
The duties follow a January investigation launched after U.S. growers petitioned over Canadian tax exemptions. Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association executive vice-president Ryan Koeslag called the justification unprecedented and warned of broader risks to agriculture on both sides of the border. The move comes as Canada, the U.S. and Mexico review their trilateral trade pact.
May 14, 5:06 PM·1m read1 source
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U.S. 6 and 5 per cent on fresh mushrooms grown in Canada. U.S. Commerce Department fact sheet released this week detailed the duties following an investigation.
U.S. growers petitioned, arguing that several tax exemptions in Canada mean Canadian mushrooms are unfairly subsidized. Countervailing duties are imposed on imports judged to be unfairly subsidized.
Ryan Koeslag, executive vice-president of the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association, said using a tax exemption as justification for countervailing duties is unprecedented. "It's a very normal practice. Countries all around the world have agricultural tax exemptions, and the United States is included in that," Koeslag told CBC News.
Koeslag said that using general tax exemptions as a justification for countervailing duties could open up Canadian and American farm products to more tariffs. "This not only has a broader implication to Canadian agriculture, but also to the American agriculture producer," he said. U.S.
Jumped 13 per cent from 2023 to 2024 before declining by nearly four per cent last year, according to data from Industry Canada. U.S. investigations have resulted in duties on Canadian softwood lumber for decades.
U.S. and Mexico are reviewing the trilateral trade pact that came into force in 2020. U.S. also launched a separate investigation which could result in further anti-dumping tariffs on mushrooms later this year.
Cbc News asked Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald's office for a statement regarding the mushroom duties. U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc's office for comment, but LeBlanc's office hasn't yet responded.
