WASHINGTON, DC – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced a formal request to establish a dispute settlement panel to investigate Canada’s dairy practices under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):

“American farmers deserve a level playing field, and USMCA’s enforcement mechanism ensures our trading partners follow the agreement’s state-of-the-art agricultural provisions that were key to securing congressional support. Canada must live up to its end of the bargain or face consequences.

“I applaud USTR for taking this important step to hold Canada accountable. Republicans will continue to push the Biden Administration to use this powerful tool to ensure full implementation of all of USMCA’s agricultural provisions.

“Mexico continues to proceed down the wrong path with respect to its implementation of USMCA obligations on biotechnology. I am closely monitoring this issue and urge USTR to use USMCA’s enforcement mechanism to address this issue if Mexico’s behavior does not change.”