Glyphosate — commonly known as Roundup — suffered a blow in the court of public opinion following a California jury decision last week, but the actual legal implications of the verdict are still to be determined in court. The jury found Monsanto liable in a case where former school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson alleges exposure to… Read more »
Category: US Ag Policy
Kentucky looks longingly across the fence at Ontario
Even though Kentucky’s first-ever agricultural trade mission was eight months in the making, no one would have blamed the state’s trade commission for delaying last week’s five-day trek to Ontario until the air cleared of anti-Canadian rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump. After all, not only are trade tensions high, but Kentucky is as pro-Trump… Read more »
Would Canada challenge Ted Cruz’s plan to attach RINs to U.S. ethanol exports?
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is currently the subject of heavy debate in the United States, as President Donald Trump tries to satisfy both the farm and energy industries in his base. On one side, you have Ted Cruz (R-TX) working hard on behalf of the refiners to push for changes to the RFS and… Read more »
Focus on trade deficits is misguided: former USDA chief economist
A trade deficit is defined as the amount by which the value of a country’s imports exceeds the value of its exports. It’s a metric that U.S. President Donald Trump frequently refers to when explaining or tweeting about his positions on trade, whether referring to NAFTA, China, or the new tariffs on steel and aluminum…. Read more »
Questions linger about U.S. commitment to completing new NAFTA deal
Negotiators are trying to ignore the politics and noise surrounding their attempt to update the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the big decisions will ultimately be made in the political realm. And that means what happens on the ground in the negotiating room has to be within the range of what political leaders, including… Read more »
Both MacAulay and Perdue need to step up for agriculture
Sonny Perdue and Lawrence MacAulay have their obvious differences. One is American and the other is Canadian. One has right wing politics and the other leans a little more to the left. One likes ice cream and the other…oh wait, they do have some things in common. Besides ice cream, they both like to talk… Read more »
U.S. and Canadian beef groups still clamouring for TPP
Even though NAFTA negotiations are underway, TPP is still vitally important if Canada and the US want to expand exports. President Trump removed the United States from TPP shortly after his inaugaration, which has caused some of the remaining eleven TPP countries to do some soul searching. Canada has been searching for its own identity… Read more »
“We’ll probably end up terminating NAFTA” – President Trump
In a speech that reminded everyone that Donald Trump loves to campaign maybe even more than actually being President, the foundations of NAFTA could be rockier than people want to believe. The President gave a rally speech in Arizona where he stated “I don’t think we can make a deal because we have been so… Read more »
Do No Harm: Ag groups remind governments of NAFTA benefits as 90-day countdown begins
As the Trump administration formally starts the process of re-opening the North American Free Trade Agreement, agriculture industry groups continue to remind the governments involved about the benefits of the existing deal. It’s a message that will be repeated often during the 90-day countdown to when renegotiations could begin, after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer… Read more »
AgriTalk Free For All: Wheat trade harmonization, planting delays, labour shortages and dairy friction
On Friday, Shaun Haney was invited to be on the Free For All Panel on Agritalk, along with Chip Flory and Jim Wiesemeyer. Agritalk with Mike Adams has over 95 United States based radio affiliates and can be heard across North America on Rural Radio 147 (couple hours before RealAg Radio). The topics included US… Read more »
U.S. Farm Groups Warn Trump Over Reported NAFTA Withdrawal Plan
President Trump received his strongest warning to date from the U.S. agriculture sector on Wednesday after it was reported the White House was finalizing a plan to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. After speaking with Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto late Wednesday, the White House issued a statement saying Trump… Read more »
Trump’s “Shock and Awe” Doesn’t Reflect Dairy Reality: Gerry Ritz
President Trump’s attacks on Canadian dairy are short-sighted and don’t reflect the reality of the Canada-U.S. dairy relationship, says former Canadian agriculture minister Gerry Ritz. “This is typical President Trump. It’s all shock and awe, throw down the gauntlet and then really not have a lot of details that his assumptions are based on,” he… Read more »
Trump Administration Not Capable of Renegotiating NAFTA: David Frum
Will Canadians see a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement any time soon? Don’t bet on it, says political commentator David Frum. Earlier this week, the editor of The Atlantic and former speech writer for George W. Bush, shared his thoughts on the Donald Trump presidency and possible NAFTA renegotiation at the Grain Farmers of Ontario… Read more »
Grain Market Moves this Week: It’s Not All Politics
Grain markets are closing out the month of January with not a lot of love as weather stabilizes in South American and President Donald Trump following through on a lot of campaign promises (first politician to ever do so?), which is creating more doubts about international demand and/or markets for U.S. agricultural products. From a performance… Read more »
Trump Legacy: Feed the World, or the Ego?
I’m a big advocate of democracy. I defend the free press globally, especially the agricultural free press, and people’s right to say what they want, as long as they don’t misuse it by slandering or scurrilously pursuing others. But when I see Donald Trump supporters flaunting slogans like Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required, as… Read more »