Food & Agriculture

CFA asks U.S. Trade Representative to Defend COOL for Consumers, Cattle Ranchers

CFA submitted the following comments asking U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to put American consumers and cattle ranchers ahead of transnational meatpacking companies in its “America First” agenda by demanding that Canada and Mexico acknowledge the United States’ right to reinstate the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements on pork and beef.  Congress repealed those requirements following a World Trade Organization Appellate Body ruling in favor of the USMCA partners, who had sued to invalidate the labeling rules as an unlawful trade barrier. As consumers confront historically high beef prices, and cattle ranchers struggle to compete with a flood of newly allowed beef imports from Argentina, the Administration’s neglect of popular COOL rules has become ever more indefensible. Polling commissioned by CFA has shown that an overwhelming majority—89%–of Americans strongly support mandatory country of origin labeling for fresh meat.