Concessions on Canadian dairy are important to getting a deal done by Friday, American representatives said
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Canadian dairy farmers are keeping a close eye on Washington, D.C., where Canadian negotiators are working to reach an agreement on a revised NAFTA.
On Monday, Mexico and the United States announced a bilateral trade deal. Both countries indicated they would move forward without Canada’s involvement and have set a loose Friday deadline for Canada to be part of a new NAFTA.
If Canada doesn’t join by the end of the week, it may face stiff U.S. auto tariffs.
But reaching a deal by Friday may hinge on Canada’s willingness to ease its stance on supply management, American representatives said.
Canada “may have some problems with the kind of concessions we need,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the Fox Business News Program Mornings with Maria yesterday, The Canadian Press reported. “They’ve been very bad to our farmers, particularly to our dairy farmers. The president has made clear that’s not something that’s agreeable to him.”
Canada remains committed to protecting its dairy sector despite the mounting pressure from the U.S.
“My position on defending supply management has not changed,” Prime Minister Trudeau told reporters yesterday. “We will defend supply management.”
Dairy farmers are pleased with the prime minister’s continued support for their sector.
“I’m glad to hear Trudeau is still supporting Canadian farmers,” Paul Hyatt, a 60-head dairy producer from Perth County, told Farms.com today. “Losing supply management … won’t be good for farms here, but it also isn’t going to make a difference to farmers in the U.S. either.
“The state of Wisconsin produces more milk than Canada does as a whole, so in about a month they would have our market flooded and they wouldn’t be any further ahead.”
More than 1.2 million dairy cows occupied Wisconsin farms in 2017, data from Wisconsin Dairy Producers shows. Canada, on the other hand, houses 954,000 Canadian dairy cows, stats from the Canadian Dairy Information Centre reveal.
If Canada does abandon supply management, it could have a significant impact on producers.
Several farmers have indicated they would have to exit the business.
“I’m one of them,” Hyatt said. “There’s no way we could keep going forward if we didn’t have supply management.”
“Many farmers I know have said they’d have to shut the doors and sell the cows if Canada did away with supply management,” Dorothy Lange, a dairy producer from Simcoe County, told Farms.com today.