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Congressman: Canada Guilty Of ‘Economic Terrorism’

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) says Canada is guilty of “economic terrorism” when it puts tariffs on American agriculture exports.

As the Toronto Star reports, Duffy told Fox News on Wednesday that Canada, joined by other countries, has an economic end game.

“We knew that Europe, China, Canada and Mexico would go after American ag. That’s how they try to take us down. This is, I think, economic terrorism in a way,” Duffy said. “They want to shock us into submission by going after our ag instead of saying you know what, let’s reduce barriers.”

The Canadian tariffs that have been applied to a host of U.S. food staples from beef to ketchup came as a result of President Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel.

Duffy’s comments came just as Trump decided to assist U.S. farmers with a $12 billion payment that many conservatives view as little more than corporate welfare.

Trump has insisted that Canada’s supply management agricultural, where the government controls the supply of agricultural products to keep prices high, is unfair and should be scrapped as part of a renegotiated NAFTA deal.

As the National Post reports, however, an increasing number of U.S. farmers are advocating for just that type of system for their products.

“In these difficult times, when milk prices are very depressed, everybody wants to look at all the options,” Wisconsin Farm Bureau President James Holte told the Post. “There are a number of people interested in it and for good reason.”

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