The midterm election has come and gone with some changes for the U.S. Congress, along with farmers and ranchers. The House of Representatives will have a Democrat majority and the Republican majority increased in the Senate. Make no mistake, with political power shifting slightly in Washington — Canadians are paying attention. The big questions are… Read More
Increased access to the Canadian dairy market through the newly minted United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) will not be a boon for U.S. dairy farmers. That’s the early verdict from Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I think the dairy producers are not going to look at their… Read More
We’re just a year away (or less?) from a federal election, even as deadlines on huge trade deals, such as NAFTA and CPTPP, loom large. As the opposing Conservatives narrow their gap in the polls with the reigning Liberals, Official Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Scheer answers some tough questions on how the Conservatives would be navigating… Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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