Pork Trade Action Coalition members (PTAC) represent hundreds of family-owned farms in the Midwest who have built their business plans based on buying Canadian pigs to raise them in the U.S. on American grain. Because there is more capacity to slaughter and process hogs than the total supply of U.S.-born hogs, Canadian imports allow more hogs to be slaughtered, therefore increasing the efficiency of packers' production lines. These pigs are a critical element of many U.S. farmers' operations, allowing them to remain competitive in a U.S. industry in which some large, integrated packers own a significant portion of the hog supply.

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U.S. and Canadian farmers, finishers and others formed PTAC to fight a trade petition filed with the U.S. government earlier this year by The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and other groups that threatens their livelihood. The petition alleges that Canadian hog producers were dumping (exporting hogs at a price below their cost of production) and that the Canadian government is providing illegal subsidies to their hog farmers. In August, the DOC rejected NPPC's claim regarding Canadian subsidies, ruling that payments to Canadian hog and other farmers did not break U.S. laws or world trade rules.

The goal of the Pork Trade Action Coalition Force is to assure that the U.S. government considers all the facts in the Canadian Swine case fairly and objectively, with a full understanding of the ramifications of any decision.