This was written before the USMCA wasnegoriated as it still applies as the USMCA may not actully get ratified. Neither Canada nr Mexico will ratify it as long as tariffs against our steel and aluminim exist. As well, in the final USMCS, Canada only moves slightly on the US quota for duty free access to the Canadian market.

My US friends may be wondering why Canada has a 270% tariff on some US milk being sold to Canada. 

The answer is that 73% of US dairy farmer income is a subsidy of some form or other according to:
U.S. dairy subsidies equal 73 percent of producer returns, says new report (https://www.realagriculture.com/2018/02/u-s-dairy-subsidies-equal-73-percent-of-producer-returns-says-new-report/)
Which means only 27% of their income comes from the consumer. 

If you divide 73 by 27, you get 2.7 or 270% to get the true market value add on to get an un-subsidized cost. 
The Canadians are actually doing the US taxpayer a favor with this tariff because otherwise the US producers will be selling subsidized product to customers that did not pay any US taxes. 

The view from here is that the US dairy farmers, to sell a small amount more milk will just be sucking in more subsidies and the US taxpayers will be paying most of the cost. 
This is called dumping and is illegal by world trade rules. 
The only way the US will get Canada to remove their tariff on dairy is to charge an export levy on the dairy farmers to recover all the subsidies paid so they are not dumping surplus milk production onto the world market. 

OR to eliminate the subsidies which would at least double US retail milk prices. 
As well, for some reason many Americans think they are the only country with a strong farm lobby. All democracies have strong farm lobbies and our politicians have to face the ballot box. 

We are not dictatorships that can give in on such things without consequences. Our politicians like to stay in power as much as any US politician. 
So what is it? Eliminate subsidies, pass legislation to stop dumping below cost or charge an export levy to eliminate the Canadian tariff. 


Basically was trryiny to sell more subsidized US milk into Canada. Milk where the US taxpayer paid up to 73% of the cost. How does it feel my US friends to be paying a large part of the cost of any US milk sold to Canada? The more the USA sells to to Canada, the more it costs the US taxpayer. I would think this would cause outrage in the USA. "How dare those snow bunnies get subsidized milk partially paid for by US taxpayers. Sucking at the US treasury. Let them use their own expensive milk!!!"