In a letter sent this afternoon, Reinsch wrote:
“Repealing COOL will ensure the United States remains in compliance with its multilateral commitments. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has on four separate occasions ruled against U.S. laws on COOL on beef and pork products, most recently on May 18, 2015. The WTO has repeatedly found that COOL laws violate our most-favoured-nation commitments at the WTO … .
“TheMay 18ruling against COOL makes it more important than ever for the United States to show its commitment to the multilateral trading system and the WTO. The potential for retaliatory tariffs by some U.S. trading partners were it to continue to ignore the WTO ruling is counterproductive to U.S. interests. Such retaliation would have immediate and widespread detrimental effects on companies, including those in food, agriculture and manufacturing.
“More important, however, is the fact that the United States has a long history of compliance with WTO rulings, a record that helps us convince other countries they should do the same when they act in a way inconsistent with their obligations.”
Read the full letter here.
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