“We’re looking for fair and equitable trade. We’re pro-trade but we want it to be fair for all parties,” said Northern Plains Potato Growers Association President Donavon Johnson. One of those policies is called a “ministerial exception.” Canadian buyers cannot purchase US potatoes until all Canadian fresh potato inventory is exhausted.
American growers asked for a similar policy to possibly be put in place in the US.
Fresh grower/shippers TJ Hall and Chris Bjorneby recently went to Washington, D.C. to bring attention to what they call “the seemingly growing and unimpeded imports of fresh potatoes from Canada into the US and its negative effect on growers, wash plants and shippers.”
Potatonewstoday.com describes how, aside from raising awareness, the trip was intended to help find possible solutions or options to limit the increasing flow of Canadian fresh potatoes into the US.
