By the end of the day, the Senate could give final congressional approval to a $1.1 trillion government funding bill that includes repeal of a meat-labeling law that has driven a wedge between the United States and its two biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico. Repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL), also a goal of U.S. meatpackers and foodmakers, would defuse the threat of up to $1.01 billion in retaliatory tariffs against U.S. manufactured and agricultural products. Canada and Mexico could get the green light from WTO any day now to apply the tariffs, but their real goal is repeal of a barrier to livestock trade.
The omnibus funding bill would eliminate the requirement for cuts of beef and pork as well as packages of ground beef and ground pork to carry labels that say where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered. Canada and Mexico challenged mandatory COOL for beef and pork because of sizable cross-border trade in meat and animals. COOL applies, with far less controversy, to poultry, lamb, goat and venison, seafood, fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and ginseng.
The Republican-controlled House was expected to vote today by mid-day on the omnibus bill, sending it to the Senate, where a series of procedural votes are expected to end with passage of the bill. Representatives passed the first part of the omnibus bill, a $622 billion package of tax incentives, on a 318-109 roll call. Republicans provided the bulk of the votes on the tax package. Democrats are expected to provide many of the votes on the funding bill. “There does appear to be a rising level of concern on the Democratic side of the aisle that they will be short of the votes needed to pass the omnibus spending bill,” said Politico. In a letter, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi asked her colleagues to join her in voting for the bill.
The COOL Reform Coalition of U.S. business groups, chaired by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, told lawmakers that it supported the targeted repeal of COOL. The coalition said “looming trade retaliation poses a substantial threat to our economy and thousands of American jobs as U.S. employers would lose significant market share in our two largest export markets.”
Canada’s list of potential targets for 100 percent tariffs range from office furniture, jewelry, wine and mattresses to frozen orange juice, pasta, meat and maple syrup.