Here's what's behind the US-Canada dairy spat that has Chuck Schumer agreeing with Trump
"What they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace. It's a disgrace," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
His comments followed a Tuesday incident in Wisconsin, where his speech on the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order devolved into a rant hammering Canada's dairy supply management system:
"We're going to get together and we're going to call Canada, and we're going to say, 'What happened?' And they might give us an answer, but we're going to get the solution, not just the answer. OK? Because we know what the solution is," he said.
In fact, American lawmakers have had extensive communication with their Canadian counterparts over the past year. They've not only called Canada, but written Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and met with his cabinet officials about the country's dairy pricing policies. Even former President Obama privately complained to Trudeau that the country's policies were harming US exporters, according to the Canadian Press.
But no solutions have emerged, and lawmakers from each country appear to be gearing up for souring NAFTA negotiations, in which a showdown over ultra-filtered milk classification seems to be inevitable.
Dairy pricing is a dispute that has appeared to bridge traditional US party lines, creating an unlikely alliance between Trump, New York Democrats Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Wisconsin Republicans Gov. Scott Walker and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Here's what's behind Canada's contentious dairy regulations: