That U.S. egg dumping

Poultry and egg shipments from the west to eastern Canada are being seriously disrupted by competition with imports of these products from the United States. Western firms, which handle the chief volume of this business assert that recently eleven cars of United States eggs were “dumped” into the Ontario market with disastrous results to the western producers.

For instance, the association asserts that at the same time that these American eggs reached the Toronto and Montreal markets, six carloads were placed there from British Columbia.  The U.S. products were graded “firsts’ and “seconds” while the western consignment were graded “extras”, but the B.C. eggs commanded no better prices from the trade than that received for the American goods.

Egg producers in Canada are protected by a duty of three cents but the American poultry yards have a protection of eight cents per dozen.  Relatively about the same margin of protection occurs for poultry.  When there is a surplus of either Minneapolis territory it is dumped into Winnipeg with only three cents barrier to surmount but where there is a surplus in Manitoba or other western Canadian centres and they try to upload on the western American market they must absorb the either cent tariff before they being to get any returns.

Canadian Tariff Not Operative

Last year the prairies shipped out 900 cars of eggs and British Columbia 200.  This season the exports were expected to more than double but the American shippers to Canada discovered that the dumping clause of the Canadian tariff was not operative.  It was declared illegal by the department so the American poultry yards began to dump their surplus products into Canada.  Canada’s dumping clause in many sections of the tariff may not be legal or workable in the Washington customs but if there is such weakness in the Washington customs but if there is such weakness in the Washington customs tariff the Canadian shippers have not been able to find it.  Last year with a surplus of turkeys, ducks and geese in western Canada the producers thought they saw a chance to supply a demand in large cities to the south.  The first car that went to Minneapolis “got by” through the hole the shippers had discovered.  The very next week the hole was closed.

What is required?

1. 1.A reciprocal tariff on these products.
2. 2.A parliamentary amendment enabling the Tariff Board to fix seasonal tariffs on American poultry and eggs to prevent dumping.

Until such a parliamentary amendment can be secured, the Department of Agriculture could, with justice and reason, instruct its inspectors to look with a strict eye on American eggs and poultry coming into Canada during dumping seasons.

The Americans are quickly enough to find reasons why our newsprint and lead cannot enter United States when they interfere with their own products.

The duty on sugar, according to the saccharine content, is nothing but a hoax to tax Canadian consumers.

Even old Mother England had no hesitation about objecting to our cattle on the ground that they were bowlegged, when it suited her to do so.