Trump's tough talk on Canadian dairy producers 'scapegoating,' farmer says

An Ottawa farmer is firing back after U.S. President Donald Trump said Canada is to blame for the financial woes of dairy farmers south of the border.

In a speech in Wisconsin Tuesday, Trump repeated his "Buy American" rhetoric, but this time took aim at Canadian dairy policies, accusing Canada of "systemic disregard" of its trade obligations.

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Peter Ruiter, who owns a family-run dairy farm in Nepean, said the president was merely posturing to the crowd.

"My first reaction. It was Trump being Trump. Playing up to the crowd where he's at. He's in Wisconsin, it's a huge dairy state," Ruiter told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Wednesday.

"I feel for the American dairy producers, they're going through a tough time and I think they're looking for someone to blame, and why not Canada?"

Canada's ambassador responds

Last weekTrump received a letter from four U.S. dairy industry groups the National Milk Producers Federation, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the International Dairy Foods Association and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture that accused Canada of violating its trade commitments to the U.S.

What [Trump is] really trying to do is wipe me off the map. That's what he wants to do.- Peter Ruiter, Ottawa dairy farmer

In a rebuttal to Trump's comment, Canadian Ambassador David MacNaughton wrote tothe governors of Wisconsin and New York in an attempt to set the record straight. He attached a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that he said "indicates that poor results in the U.S. sector are due to U.S. and global overproduction. As made clear in the report, Canada is not a contributor to the overproduction problem."

Ruiter agreed, and went further.

"What [Trump is] really trying to do is wipe me off the map. That's what he wants to do. He's trying to ship the milk that I'm shipping," Ruiter said.

DefendingNAFTA

Ruiter said MacNaughton's letter is "very good start" to pushing back against the rhetoric and saidhe hopes the Trudeau government will stand up for farmers and protect the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Trump once again threatened to rip up the trilateral agreement unless there are "very big changes."

Without NAFTA, Ruiter said he would probably have to look for another job.

"My farm is a family farm. I farm with my wife and my 17-year-old son helps me here now as well. I want to make a living," he said.

"The U.S. uses a lot of cheaper labour and lower taxes, lower hydro. I probably couldn't survive."