As part of the larger COOL Reform Coalition, the American Soybean Association (ASA) sent a letter to the Senate this morning, urging modifications of the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law to ensure compliance with U.S. international trade obligations and avoid tariff retaliation from Mexico and Canada.

COOL requires that livestock from the U.S., Canada and Mexico remain segregated from birth through meat labeling to assure the accuracy of origin labeling of each piece of meat sold to consumers. Canada and Mexico challenged the COOL requirements at the World Trade Organization (WTO), alleging that the required segregation hurts the value of livestock from their countries and violates our international trade obligations.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled against the U.S. three times, consistently finding the COOL labeling law to be non-compliant with WTO rules. The World Trade Organization is set to issue its fourth and final ruling regarding U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) of muscle cuts of beef and pork on or before May 18.

If the U.S. is found to be in violation of WTO rules in this final ruling, there is potential for economic disruption as Canada and Mexico, America’s two largest export markets, will institute large retaliatory tariffs on U.S. food and other goods.

“If tariff retaliation is authorized, U.S. industries as a whole would suffer billions in lost sales and take years to recover lost export markets after the tariffs are lifted. Given the negative impact on the U.S. manufacturing and agriculture economies, we respectfully submit that it would be intolerable for the United States to maintain, even briefly, requirements that have been deemed non-compliant by the WTO,” the letter states. “We expect the House of Representatives to pass legislation to repeal violative requirements of COOL promptly upon announcement of a final WTO adjudication of non-compliance. We are anxious that the Senate be well prepared to act on that legislation before the August recess.”

Click here to read the entire letter.