The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance has hired a new interim executive director. Adam Taylor joined the national organization that represents trade-dependent sectors of Canadian agriculture, effective February 20. Taylor is the president and co-founder of the Ottawa-based trade consulting firm Export Action Global, and was a senior advisor to federal cabinet ministers, including former trade… Read More
Category: Trade
Canada is an exporting nation, of that there can be no doubt. While some countries struggle to produce enough to feed its people, Canada produces more than double what it needs. That creates a clear opportunity, and some would say responsibility, to export food and food ingredients world-wide. Ted Bilyea, distinguished fellow with the Canadian… Read More
If you’re like me, the image that the word “exports” evokes is container ships and railways and huge water-side ports. While all of that is very true, there’s more to exports than just commodities and large volumes, says Mairead Lavery, president and CEO of Export Development Canada. Lavery spoke at the Canadian Agriculture and a… Read More
The United States is formally requesting a second dispute settlement panel over Canada’s dairy tariff-rate quota (TRQ) policies under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (also known as CUSMA or USMCA). “Although the United States won a previous USMCA dispute on Canada’s dairy TRQ allocation policies, the Canadian government’s revised measures have not fixed the problem,” said… Read More
Battle lines are being drawn over how countries handle environmental and climate programs. It’s been suggested that climate programming could be a clever way for governments to funnel money to farm programs and remain under the radar of trade rules. There’s also the looming discussion of using these programs to “score” commodities on their carbon… Read More
It was one year ago this month that Canada disclosed the finding of an atypical case of BSE. While the finding didn’t impact most markets, it did create trade frustrations with China that are still not rectified. Unlike classical BSE cases, atypical BSE appears spontaneously in older cattle, even in countries where no classical BSE… Read More
After committing $115 million in tariff proceeds to Ukraine, the deputy prime minister says she’s working with the agriculture minister to “resolve the situation” regarding the cost of 35 per cent tariffs applied to fertilizer sold to farms in Eastern Canada. Chrystia Freeland, who is also the finance minister, was asked about the fertilizer tariffs… Read More
Where Brazil and Mexico have the potential to emerge as hot markets in the longer term, China is a market that one geopolitical analyst says should be sold to when the opportunity arises, but should not be the centre of a trade strategy. Jacob Shapiro with Cognitive Investments strongly cautions Canada, and the U.S. too,… Read More
The sheer number of people, and the corresponding economy, within the Indo-Pacific region is reason enough for every nation to have a coordinated, focused strategy for trade in the region. The need for a strategy may be clear, but the shape it takes, and the urgency with which it is prioritized varies by country. Canada,… Read More
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced several new pieces of the Canadian government’s yet-to-be-released Indo-Pacific Strategy while in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Friday. The announcement included $31.8 million designated to establish Canada’s first agriculture trade office in the region to “increase and diversify agriculture and agri-food exports to the… Read More
The federal government will pay approximately $1.7 billion to Canada’s supply-managed dairy, poultry, and egg producers and processors to compensate for market access concessions made in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA or USMCA). Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau made the announcement in Ascot Corner, Quebec on Monday, Nov. 13, expanding on the commitment made in the… Read More
With harvest well underway, or even finished for some, markets continue to be susceptible to global events, but focus is now turning to what the actual yield numbers are as crops come off. Weighing in on the topic is Brian Voth, president of intetlliFARM, and he says he’s skeptical of the demand that is being… Read More
Nitrogen has been a hot topic, not only in Canada when it comes to emissions reductions, but worldwide as Europe faces steep increases on natural gas prices, which may have crop rotations shifting in the coming years for those producers, creating a domino effect for North American growers. In Europe, they’ve see a 3600 per… Read More
Next month, China will appoint its next standing committee at its 25th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. President Xi is looking to lead an unprecedented third term, but, more broadly, the focus is on what direction the new group will take on China’s domestic and international policy. Charles Burton, senior fellow with MacDonald Laurier Institute, says… Read More
When looking at the overall picture, protein markets have battled the last while, amid rising costs, plant closures and export hiccups. But retail prices have also climbed, with consumer demand keeping pace here at home. For the hog industry, the result has meant a return to decent margins, but trouble could be brewing on the… Read More