US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on 25 August accused Canada of imposing tariffs of up to 300 per cent on certain American dairy products, warning that Washington would not tolerate the status quo and would continue pressing for fair market access for its farmers. The remarks come amid heightened trade tensions between the two neighbours and ongoing negotiations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

What Rollins Said

Rollins stated that President Donald Trump had raised concerns about Canada's treatment of American dairy producers repeatedly over the past year and a half, arguing that existing trade arrangements had failed to deliver the access they were designed to provide.

'The President has been very clear for the last year and a half that the way they treat our dairy farmers in America is just not. It is not going to continue any longer,' she said.

'Canada is applying sometimes a 200 and 300 per cent extra tariff on milk and dairy products going into Canada,' Rollins added. She declined to elaborate on the specifics of ongoing negotiations, noting that she did not want to get ahead of Trump or US Trade Representative Jason Greer, who she said was in the middle of the talks.

Impact on US Farmers and Ranchers

Rollins acknowledged that the trade dispute had created significant uncertainty across rural America. 'There is no doubt that it causes concern amongst our farmers and ranchers, as it is a lot of unknown out there,' she said. She argued, however, that agriculture had remained central to the administration's trade strategy, with each of its 20 new trade agreements addressing agricultural products such as soybeans, cotton, beef, or dairy.

The Ground Beef Import Controversy

Rollins also defended the Trump administration's decision to allow the temporary import of 300,000 metric tonnes of ground beef over 90 days, framing it as a supply-chain measure rather than a move to undercut domestic cattle producers. She said Americans consume approximately 13 million metric tonnes of beef annually, with around 11 million metric tonnes produced domestically, and normally import between 2 million and 3 million metric tonnes each year.

The supply shortfall was partly attributed to Washington's earlier decision to halt imports of live Mexican cattle after the New World screwworm moved towards US border states and cattle-producing regions. That restriction, imposed approximately 14 to 15 months ago, prevented roughly one million cattle from entering the United States, according to Rollins. The first port in Douglas, Arizona, reopened to live cattle movements on Monday.

Rebuilding the US Cattle Herd

Rollins estimated that the temporary ground beef imports announced by Trump represented the equivalent of between 500,000 and 700,000 cattle — still not enough to fully replace the volume lost during the border closure. She cited additional administration efforts to expand grazing land, rebuild the US cattle herd, and source more locally produced food for school meals. 'We are in this to support our ranchers and our farmers, and we will make sure that we are doing everything necessary to rebuild the herd,' she said.

With USMCA talks ongoing and no resolution on dairy access in sight, the pressure on both governments to reach a workable arrangement is set to intensify in the weeks ahead.