Costa Reacts to WTO's COOL Ruling

Washington, DC – Rep. Jim Costa released the following statement after the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced its fourth and final decision to reject the United States' appeal regarding Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL).

"Today's decision by the WTO to again rule against the United States further demonstrates that mandatory, government-run Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) is a failed experiment. As a result of this ruling, the United States is now subject to harsh trade retaliations by Canada and Mexico that will threaten jobs, harm companies, and severely impact our local and national economies. California alone is estimated to lose hundreds of millions of dollars as a direct result of the tariffs that will be imposed.

"COOL has not only increased costs to ranchers and processors in order comply with the regulations, but most importantly, is threating the trade relationship with our top export partners, Canada and Mexico. It is an ineffective law that must be repealed immediately before further damage is done."