22 Apr MFU seeks to join motion to halt tariffs on Canada
Montana farmers and ranchers shouldn’t be at the mercy of unlawful tariffs put in place by the executive branch, whose approach is incongruous with the international market, Montana Farmers Union said Monday after officially seeking to join members of the Blackfeet Tribe in asking a U.S. District Court judge to stop the implementation of tariffs imposed on Canada.
“As a grassroots organization, Montana Farmers Union has helped farmers and ranchers successfully address challenges for more than 100 years. Seeking intervention in this case to halt unlawful tariffs is yet another way MFU fights on behalf of family farmers and ranchers,” MFU President Walter Schweitzer said. The executive branch has overstepped its constitutional and statutory authority on these tariffs. Montana farmers and ranchers can’t afford any more uncertainty or any more financial stressors – especially not random tariffs.”
Plaintiffs Susan Webber and Jonathan St. Goddard, both members of the Blackfeet Tribe, filed the original complaint earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Great Falls against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the United States of America, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Webber and St. Goddard argue in their motion that recently announced tariffs against Canada are invalid.
Schweitzer filed a declaration in support of the original motion and said Monday’s step to intervene in the case is on behalf of Montana’s family farmers and ranchers who are facing dire financial and mental impacts if the tariffs remain in effect.
“MFU’s members do not have robust markets in the United States for the crops they grow, and those markets cannot be developed overnight. These tariffs are already having devastating impacts on MFU’s members and have the potential of putting them out of business if the tariffs are not enjoined,” the motion to intervene states.
Temporary pauses on tariffs aren’t enough, Schweitzer said, adding MFU seeks to intervene in the case to challenge the constitutionality of several executive orders related to tariffs, and is asking the courts to enjoin the tariffs announced April 2, or to stay tariffs on all commerce and goods at all Montana ports of entry or at least on the original plaintiffs and MFU members.
“Already, farmers and ranchers are suffering under unpredictable tariffs that put their razor thin profit margin at risk. More arbitrary tariffs will mean the difference between a family farm being profitable or our food supply becoming weaker with fewer and fewer producers,” Schweitzer said.
MFU member John Wicks, who farms near Tiber, has already been impacted by the volatility this approach has created. A portion of Wicks’ organic lentil crop is exported to Canada. A potential contract with a Canadian company would have paid an extra 5 cents per bushel compared to a contract with a U.S. company.
“But due to the instability in the trade market before tariffs were imposed, that price would not be honored by the partner as negotiations progressed. Specifically, the partner said if American tariffs were going to be implemented, the partner would not take the crops,” Wicks wrote in a declaration of support for MFU’s filing.
“Our partners in the United States know that our Canadian partners are doing this and are capitalizing on it by offering lower prices, so we’re getting squeezed,” Wicks continued, adding that the instability in the market is impacting other crops as well, including his durum.
“The unpredictability in the trade market and tariffs imposed have cost our business money and the volatility and instability are not sustainable,” Wicks said.
“Farmers and ranchers have invested decades in developing reliable markets for our products,” Schweitzer said. “Overnight, these random tariffs have destroyed markets that will take decades to rebuild. This is why the authority to impose tariffs resides in Congress because it provides a forum for public debate and input and ensures the benefit outweighs the harm.”
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