Major U.S. trading partners, including China, Canada, and Mexico are hitting back against the Trump Administration’s trade policies by putting retaliatory duties on almost $50 billion worth of U.S. goods. Politico says the final list of tariffs in Canada includes a lot of U.S. agricultural products, including orange juice, maple syrup, and U.S. prepared beef products. Canada’s Foreign Minister says they have no choice but to retaliate with a perfectly reciprocal dollar-for-dollar response. Later this week, Mexico will carry out the second part of a two-part process targeting almost $3 billion worth of U.S. goods. That includes $2.5 billion worth of American agricultural products, including cheese, pork hams and shoulders, apples, sausages, frozen potatoes, frozen cranberries, orange juice, and whiskey. The Trump Administration will likely escalate things on Friday by imposing a 25 percent duty on about $34 billion in additional Chinese goods. China is expected to immediately respond by implementing a 25 percent duty on about $34 billion worth of U.S. exports, including soybeans and cars.

Kansas state government officials and leaders from the Kansas livestock industry announced a new program called the Cattle Trace Pilot Project. Cattle Trace is a unique public-private project that will develop and test a cattle disease traceability infrastructure in the state, which will hopefully be a catalyst in discussing and designing a national traceability program. Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer was at a weekend event announcing the pilot project and says Kansas is home to some of the finest beef producers in the country. “We are proud that the Kansas beef industry has taken the lead in this important project that will enhance our ability to protect cattle health here and across the nation,” Colyer says. Kansas beef producers, as well as state government officials, consider cattle disease traceability to be an important component in the overall viability and biosecurity of the U.S. beef industry, playing a significant role in resuming and maintaining commerce in the event of a disease outbreak. The development of a viable end-to-end cattle disease traceability system is a top priority in the beef industry in Kansas and across the country.

The website AXIOS, as well as AOL, are both reporting that the Trump Administration has drafted a bill that would abandon the United States’ commitment to the World Trade Organization’s rules. Trump has reportedly been discussing the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WTO altogether. However, Congress is unlikely to approve the measure. Administration officials involved in drafting the legislation tell AXIOS that the idea is “insane.” The draft bill would reportedly give the president the power to ignore the international trade rules set by the World Tradt Organization, according to a draft copy obtained by AXIOS. The draft bill is known as the United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act, which would essentially allow President Trump to unilaterally raise tariffs without Congressional approval. The WTO maintains a rules-based system meant to resolve international trade disputes, end unfair trade practices, and head off potential trade wars. But, the president has reportedly said foreign countries use the organization to “screw over the United States.” Should the U.S. actually walk away from the WTO, it would undermine the entire system of trade rules agreed upon by the international community.

Canada has announced it will place higher tariffs on U.S. beef imports starting on Sunday, July 1. Kent Bacus is the NCBA Director of International Trade and Market Access, and he says Canada has finally followed through on actions it’s been threatening for months. “Canada has followed through on a threat to slap a tariff on $170 million worth of U.S. beef products in direct response to the steel and aluminum tariffs,” he said. “Now, they’ve made good on that threat. These retaliatory tariffs are clearly still avoidable. The unfortunate casualties will be Canadian consumers, as well as American cattlemen and cattlewomen.” He adds that the NCBA may not know the extent of the damage done to American producers, but the NCBA says cooperation is a better path forward than escalation. Bacus adds, “As Canadians gather to celebrate Canada Day and we prepare to celebrate American Independence, we encourage our government and the Canadian government to remember that we are allies and we rely on each other for future economic prosperity.”