Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, facing the threat of a trade war from U.S. President Donald Trump, has unanimous domestic support for now but to keep a firm hold on power must wring concessions from an unwilling powerful dairy lobby in order to mollify Washington. Trudeau, who over the last year […] Read more
Trudeau safe for now as Trump attacks, but angry farmers loom
Canada’s dairy farmers cling to protections as Trump demands concessions
Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Canadian dairy farmers want trade negotiators to keep their hands off the protected sector in increasingly contentious talks with the United States, however loudly U.S. President Donald Trump demands greater access, an executive with Canada’s biggest dairy lobby group said Monday. The sector, worth $21 billion in farm and processed dairy […] Read more
Report pegs U.S. dairy support levels
U.S. dairy farmers continue to benefit from broad agriculture supports, a study shows. Dairy Farmers of Canada has had Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates regularly study the effect of U.S. government policy on dairy farms in that country. The latest version of the project was released at the Dairy Farmers of Canada policy conference held […] Read more
Dairy farmers get no assurances on NAFTA
Dairy farmers are seeking assurances there would be no more access to Canada’s dairy market in a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement — but Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s minister of agriculture and agri-food, would not provide them. “Because of the NAFTA negotiations going on, we have to be careful what we say publicly,” MacAulay said […] Read more
Dairy sector wary of proposed food label policy
Canadian consumers are being asked to weigh in on proposed new front-of-pack warnings for foods high in saturated fats, sugars and sodium, starting this weekend. And while whole milk would get a pass from such a plan, Canada’s dairy farmer organization fears many other dairy products would wind up wearing such warnings, thus “alarming” consumers. […] Read more
Chicken, dairy farmers rip TPP concessions
Updated, Jan. 25, 2018 — Canada’s supply-managed producer groups warn that the new Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade deal stands to chip away unnecessarily at their markets. Chicken Farmers of Canada on Wednesday said the CPTPP deal, on which Canada pledged Tuesday it will sign in March, still includes concessions on market access […] Read more
Don’t write NAFTA’s obituary just yet
‘Absurd’ demands have heightened fears that President Trump aims to kill the trade pact, but experts say that’s premature
Reading Time: 4 minutes Stay calm and keep negotiating’ seems to be the mantra of Canadian farm groups even as a growing number of experts warn NAFTA may be doomed. U.S. negotiators dropped a series of bombshells in the fourth round of talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement — demands that Canada and Mexico had said […] Read more
Saputo woos Australia farmers in Murray Goulburn rebuild
Winnipeg | Reuters — Saputo, one of Canada’s largest dairy producers, aims to return Australia’s Murray Goulburn Co-operative to profit by aggressively pursuing more of the country’s milk supply, its CEO said on Thursday. The Montreal-based company agreed last week to buy the co-operative for C$1.3 billion including debt, and has already planned 15 meetings […] Read more
Don’t worry about NAFTA talks, dairy farmers told
The free trade deal is being renegotiated but Ottawa is vowing to resist any move to undercut supply management
Reading Time: 2 minutes Don’t worry, we have your back. That was the message delivered behind closed doors to the nation’s dairy leaders at the recent annual general meeting of the Dairy Farmers of Canada. The AGM was held just as Washington was releasing its negotiating objectives on talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, which will […] Read more
New Zealand dairy industry worries over Canada pricing plan
Wellington/Winnipeg | Reuters — New Zealand is closely watching changes in how Canada prices dairy products, New Zealand’s trade ministry said on Friday, as industry groups in several countries complain of unfair Canadian competition. Canada’s dairy farmers and processors, which include Saputo and Parmalat Canada, struck a pricing agreement in July that industry groups in […] Read more
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