Gov. Scott Walker says he hopes President Donald Trump’s aggressive negotiating stance with Canada has gotten the country’s attention in an ongoing dispute with Wisconsin dairy farmers.
In the weeks since Grassland Dairy said it was ending contracts with dozens of Wisconsin dairy farms because it lost markets in Canada, Trump has enacted a tariff on imports of Canadian lumber and reportedly threatened a push for the United States to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“Well, he certainly has an aggressive negotiating style which has worked for him in the past on other things,” Walker told reporters Wednesday in Madison. “Up until then, it appeared as though Canada was not at all interested in acting.”
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Walker said his hope is the president’s words get Canada to reconsider its dairy policy ahead of Monday, May 1, when several Wisconsin dairies stand to lose buyers.
“The ideal situation — or at least the minimal ideal situation — is that there would be at least some sort of a reprieve,” Walker said. “Some sort of delay in terms of the impact, which would allow us more time to deal with the rest of these issues.”
Walker said everyone benefits from a good trade relationship with Canada, which is far and away Wisconsin’s No. 1 export market.
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