Costa Introduces Legislation to Prevent Tariff Retaliations by Canada and Mexico

Washington, DC – This morning, H.R. 2393, a bill introduced by Rep. Jim Costa, Rep. Conaway and 59 other Members of Congress to repeal mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for beef, pork, and chicken products, passed out of the House Agriculture Committee. Monday's ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reject, for a final time, the United States' appeal regarding COOL means that numerous commodities, many of which are grown in California, will face significant retaliation by Canada and Mexico. This includes top exports from the Central Valley such as cherries, wine, grapes, and tomatoes. H.R. 2393 is a targeted response that will provide stability, bring the U.S. back into compliance, and stop trade retaliations, while improving trade relationships with two of the nation's top export partners.

"California exports billions of dollars worth of commodities to Canada and Mexico, many of which are produced in the San Joaquin Valley. If Canada and Mexico move forward with tariff retaliations, and COOL is not repealed, we can expect to see significant losses in exports to those countries, which will harm our Valley's economy and result in lost jobs," said Rep. Jim Costa, Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee's Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee. "We have the data, studies, and the World Trade Organization's experience to demonstrate that COOL is detrimental to our state and national economies, and hurts our nation's beef, pork and chicken producers and packers. As such, I look forward to continuing to work, in a bipartisan manner, with Congress to move this legislation forward and repeal COOL."

Yesterday, Rep. Costa and his colleagues held a bipartisan press conference with representatives from industries that are targets of retaliation by Canada and Mexico. H.R. 2393 would amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to repeal Country of Origin Labeling requirements with respect to beef, pork, and poultry, and for other purposes.