Trade talk includes details of request to probe Canadian practices

A trade-focused breakout session Jan. 7 at Potato Expo 2026 in Dallas provided additional details on the National Potato Council (NPC)’s request for the Office of the United States Trade Representative to investigate Canadian potato trade practices.

NPC CEO Kam Quarles joined Matt Lantz, senior vice president of global access for international market access lobbying group Bryant Christie, to discuss topics including the Dec. 19 request for a Section 332 fact-finding investigation.

The issues centers around a recent change in a longstanding anti-dumping measure imposed by the province of British Columbia against U.S. potato exports, primarily from Washington, for more than 40 years.

Anti-dumping duties are tariffs imposed on imported goods sold below fair market value to protect domestic industries from unfair competition, ensuring those imports cost the same as or more than local products.

This past July, Canadian authorities increased the floor price of certain U.S. potatoes to avoid triggering dumping penalties, resulting in millions of dollars in reported losses for U.S. growers, Quarles said Wednesday.

“That floor price was raised so high, it effectively shut the market down,” he said.

While Canadian law permits individual provinces to bring and enforce such measures, Quarles said the move violates at least “the spirit” of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“We want to understand exactly what is going on first before we suggest any type of remedial enforcement action,” Quarles said. “Everybody agrees that Canada and the U.S. are very important partners. We need to have a stable, reliable, strong trading relationship, and when anything gets out of whack, it’s not in either country’s interest.”

Revisiting Japan

Lantz, after re-emphasizing the importance — and value — of a fully open Japanese market, said that he would visit Japan later this month to “engage with the U.S. embassy” on trade issues as part of a planned trip to Southeast Asia.

The U.S. has sought to export fresh, or table stock, potatoes to Japan for decades — a development the USDA estimates would boost trade by $150 million annually. Negotiations have been hung up on what Quarles has called “the unusual position” taken by Japan of assessing individual phytosanitary threats.

The next round of bilateral plant health meetings between Japanese trade officials and representatives from USDA”s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is set for September in Japan.

— Melinda Waldrop, Managing Editor