Canada
Farm groups to White House: Don’t hurt us in NAFTA renegotiation
With its trade team in place, the Trump administration announced it will renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, fulfilling a campaign promise by the president. Canada and Mexico are two of the three leading markets for U.S. farm exports so U.S. farm groups hope for gains in the talks but fear disruptions.
Average age of Canadian farmer rises, but there are more young farmers
In a case of statistical whiplash, the average age of the Canadian farmer is up at the same time the country's Census of Agriculture found a 3 percent increase in the number of farm operators under the age of 35. "This is the first time that there has been an increase in this age category since 1991," said Statistics Canada, which conducts the census every five years.
U.S. senators push Trump officials for fair trade in dairy to Canada
With Robert Lighthizer now at work as U.S. trade representative, the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee asked the Trump administration to push for fair trade in ultra-filtered milk sales to Canada.
Now Trump says he’ll renegotiate NAFTA. Or maybe not.
After rattling the nerves of the farm sector, President Trump said "we're going to give re-negotiation a good strong shot," rather than abandoning the North American Free Trade Agreement. "I decided rather than terminating NAFTA, which would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system, we will re-negotiate," Trump told reporters while meeting Argentine President Mauricio Macri.
Trump warns Canada, ‘We’re going to take care of our dairy farmers’
At an agricultural roundtable in the White House, President Trump turned up the heat in the U.S.-Canada dairy dispute, saying "we don't want to be taken advantage of by other countries – and that's stopping and stopping fast." At nearly the same time, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters separately that the administration is looking for measures to resume sales of ultra-filtered milk from U.S. farms to Canadian processors.
Trump broadens attack on Canada and NAFTA, calls it ‘a disaster for our country’
Two days after accusing Canada of stifling U.S. dairy exports, President Trump said, "what they've done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace," and added: "[W]e're going to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly" to re-write NAFTA. In Toronto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he anticipated "a thoughtful, fact-based conversation on how to move forward in a way the protects our consumers and our agricultural producers."
U.S. will ‘get the solution’ in dairy dispute with Canada, says Trump
During a trip to Wisconsin, President Trump said, “We’re going to get the solution” in a dispute with Canada over the price of a high-protein milk concentrate called ultrafiltered milk that’s used in making cheese.
White House: NAFTA will wait until Lighthizer is confirmed
President Trump made renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement a top issue during his election campaign, but he has moved slowly on it since taking office. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the administration is waiting for Senate confirmation of Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative before it starts the clock running for discussions with Canada and Mexico.
U.S. farm export forecast raised to $136 billion
An upsurge in demand by China, the top customer for U.S. food and agricultural goods, will boost U.S. farm exports to $136 billion this year, the first upturn in sales since 2014, said the Agriculture Department. The quarterly forecast is $2 billion higher than USDA's estimate in November, "largely due to expected increases in livestock, poultry, and dairy exports."
Trump: Tweaks for Canada, but ‘we’re going to work with Mexico’ on NAFTA
After his first meeting with Canada's prime minister, President Trump tagged Mexico as his prime target in renegotiating the two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement. "We'll be tweaking it," Trump responded when asked about the impact on Canada. "It's a much less severe situation than what's taking place on the southern border."
Canada says it ‘would respond appropriately’ to new U.S. tariffs
After meeting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Canada's foreign minister said her country "would respond appropriately" if the United States pushes for new tariffs on Canadian products as part of NAFTA negotiations, said Reuters. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could meet President Trump as early as next week; NAFTA would be a top issue.
Dairy industry says new Canadian rules will block U.S. exports
Dairy companies wrote to governors of 25 states to ask their help in heading off a change in Canadian dairy policy, due to take effect on Wednesday, that they say will further discourage shipments of ultra-filtered milk and other dairy products to Canada. The dairies say the new National Ingredients Policy violates trade agreements.
Negotiations with Canada and Mexico over NAFTA to begin soon, says Trump
President Donald Trump plans to meet the leaders of Canada and Mexico soon "to start renegotiating on NAFTA, on immigration and on security at the border," reported Reuters. After China, the U.S. neighbors are the top markets for U.S. farm exports, forecast to buy 29 percent of ag exports and be the source of 44 percent of U.S. agricultural imports, so farm groups want to avoid adverse effects of reworked rules.
Canadian ranchers fear bankruptcy in tuberculosis outbreak
The government has quarantined three dozen farms and thousands of cattle in western Canada as it investigates an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that can be transmitted to people. Ranchers appealed to the House of Commons for compensation for the quarantine or permission to sell the cattle, which are ready for marketing.
Canada will continue funding for WHO cancer agency
Five weeks after the Canadian meat industry suggested the government should withdraw support from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Health Ministry has its answer: No, thank you. As iPolitics reports: "No adjustments to their support would be necessary at this time," said a spokesman for Minister Jean Philpott.
With Canada pact settled, EU expects new trade talks with U.S.
One day after signing a trade pact with the European Union, the Canadian government said it would start work immediately on implementation. The so-called CETA agreement was regarded for months as an indicator of prospects for a U.S.-EU free-trade agreement; the EU trade commissioner says the initiative is still alive although on the sidelines while the United States chooses its next president.
EU disarray stalls trade pact with Canada, may doom U.S. deal
The Canadian trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, declared that the European Union was incapable of finalizing a trans-Atlantic trade deal and walked out of negotiations, said Reuters. The environmental group Friends of the Earth said it was time to kill the Canada-EU pact and a proposed U.S.-EU free-trade agreement.
Canada’s carbon tax could take a toll on farms
Canada’s new tax on carbon, set to start at C$10 in 2018 and reach C$50 by 2022, could hurt the country’s farmers and fertilizer companies, says Reuters. Canada is in one of the world’s biggest grain-producers. But at C$50, the tax “would raise fertilizer prices by C$2 per acre for Canadian farmers, and some experts peg the total farm cost at C$6 an acre, according to the CIBC bank.”