The Canadian beef and pork sectors are cautiously optimistic about movement of product into China, following a trade delegation to the major protein market.
Fresh off the trip, Chris White, CEO of the Canadian Meat Council and the Canadian Pork Council, says that there are still major trade irritants between the countries — namely the Canadian tariffs on Chinese EVs and retaliatory Chinese tariffs on pork and canola — that can’t be fully navigated until a new government is chosen on Monday, April 28.
Once a new government is installed, White says that will set the tone and direction for navigating the trade relationship, be it more of the same with the Liberals or a new direction with the Conservatives. His Chinese counterparts are in a wait-and-see approach, White says.
Announcements out of Washington this week bode well for an overall improvement of global trade relationships, he adds.
When it comes to beef movement into China, White says that the country has all the information they need to make a ruling regarding BSE risk, but that the industry remains in a holding pattern for now. “It would be great to be back in,” he says.
White is optimistic going forward, but the “when” of getting back — or fully back in — to the Chinese economy is still an unknown. Monday’s election and a new government allows the opportunity to re-establish the trade relationship and move towards a more stable, transactional relationship.
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