The New Deal A Good One For Canadian Beef & Pork

Since the new NAFTA, now renamed the USMCA, was signed in principle, the reaction among Canadian Ag industry pundits has been favorable and, with the exception to dairy famers, both the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the Canadian Pork Council are breathing a sigh of relief

Both the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the Canadian Pork Council quickly released statements in support of the new USMCA deal signed in principle with minutes to spare before the midnight deadline this past Sunday.

“A new trilateral trade agreement is great news for Canadian pork producers. Lots of hard work has been put into reaching this important milestone and we congratulate all those involved in reaching the agreement known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), especially Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister Chrystia Freeland and her team, as well as Minister MacAulay” said Rick Bergmann, Canadian Pork Council’s Chair, in the statement released by the CPC.

“We look forward to stabilized markets”

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) congratulated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on reaching an agreement that preserves and secures the duty-free access upon which the Canadian beef cattle sector has been built over the past 25 years.

“The new United States, Mexico and Canada Agreement (USMCA), once ratified via the legislative processes of the three countries will update, modernize and replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).” the CCA stated in their release. “In addition to preserving duty-free trade in live cattle and beef, producers are pleased that the existing rules of origin and the most important dispute settlement provisions remain intact; there is nothing in the agreement on country of origin labelling for meat or livestock.

For Canadian pork producers, they are grappling with very low prices made worse by the uncertainty in global pork markets, so the agreement is a welcome outcome.

The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) were pleased to learn that the new agreement will not include new tariffs and that it retained the dispute mechanisms so vital to trade stability.

Both the CCA and the CPC will be reviewing the details of the new agreement.

“We look forward to a stabilized pork market that will allow pork producers in Canada, the United States and Mexico to support one another in producing high quality pork and contributing to growing the economy in their respective countries,” Bergmann added in the CPC press release.