Ontario ag leaders head south to talk facts about trade

THIS WEEK, ONTARIO AG leaders are headed south of the border to try to mend some of the trade fences that embattled U.S. President Donald has crashed through.

Led by Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Jeff Leal, the group – which includes representatives from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Egg Farmers of Ontario and Food and Consumers Products Canada – will make its first stop in Wisconsin.

Other trips by the Ontario contingent are planned for Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, states where Ontario does appreciable business – and vice versa.

Wisconsin is where, in April, Trump declared war on supply management in Canada, especially dairy. He claimed it was hurting U.S. farmers, even though most American dairy farmers disagree. The president claims Canadian dairy producers are undercutting sales of certain U.S. products for processing.

In an interview, Leal said he plans to speak about the benefits of two-way trade

between borders. In Wisconsin, he and the Ontario entourage will meet with a slate of decision makers that includes the state’s secretary of agriculture and federal representatives.

A point he’ll make in these meetings is that the pre-Trump border situation has worked well for most American farmers … certainly in Wisconsin, where the trade balance between Ontario and the state is about $1 billion in favour of Wisconsin.

That figure doesn’t support Trump’s contention that Ontario or Canadian trade policies here have created big problems for Wisconsin producers.

“When it comes to trade, there are peaks and valleys,” says Leal. “That’s the nature of trade. We’ll politely, firmly and diplomatically point out the advantages of two-way trade.”

Leal says he’ll continue to defend supply management and the interests of Ontario farmers and processors. He can also be expected to remind those he meets with that low prices for dairy worldwide are the result of overproduction, not Canadian trade policies.

Much is at stake. Ontario is the number-one customer of 20 U.S. states, and the second-largest of eight more. Nearly nine million U.S. jobs depend on trade and investment with Canada. In 2016, two-way agri-food trade between the province and America totalled about $28.8 billion.

Earlier this month, Leal and Premier Kathleen Wynne met with several of the province’s agri-food leaders to discuss trade relations with the United States. Opportunities, challenges and the way forward were all on the table, they said.

Now comes the follow through.

On the heels of this U.S. visit announcement, it was announced that Trump had instructed congress to get the ball rolling for NAFTA renegotiation. Interestingly, the premier welcomed it.

“Growing a healthy Ontario-U.S. trade relationship is good for both economies,” she said. “We see this decision as an opportunity to look at how NAFTA could potentially be improved to make the agreement even more effective for the people of Ontario, our workers and businesses. Ontario and our U.S. neighbours don’t just ‘trade – we build things together. Our businesses’ supply chains and operations are deeply integrated.”

Her remarks indicate a good grasp of the situation. Instead of defending the status quo with our U.S. neighbours, use this opportunity to grow the relationship. The premier is right – integration between Canadian and US agriculture is a part of our culture. Sometimes, that’s to our detriment, especially when we ship raw commodities and import back finished goods. But cooler heads may well prevail when a closer look at the NAFTA agreement reveals new ways both sides may be able to work together and be profitable.

The status quo is being disrupted anyway. So, bring it on.