Daisy on trial
When President Donald Trump visited the U.S. dairy heartland last week, he was quick to tell a Wisconsin audience that, “in Canada some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others.” He called Canadian trade practices a disgrace.
So much for tweaking NAFTA. Daisy the cow is now on trial in a looming international trade war.
It’s our bad luck that China’s leader was recently in Florida, and suddenly the attention-span-challenged U.S. president has a new best friend. After criticizing China relentlessly about its trade practices, Mr. Trump now speaks highly of his largest and most predatory trading partner.
He has scaled down the anti-Chinese rhetoric and replaced it with an anti-Canada tirade. We’ve been placed on his revolving axis of evil for political expediency.
No sooner had he called out Daisy than the president was slamming Canadian softwood lumber and Alberta oil. If his intention was to rattle his northern neighbour, President Trump succeeded. Trade imbalances directed at Mexico and China have switched northward.
In the span of 24 hours this week, Mr. Trump went from tweaking NAFTA, to threatening an executive order abandoning the 1988 deal, and now its back to renegotiation. The latest tirades are ploys to win concessions at the bargaining table.
He probably doesn’t realize the US enjoys a huge dairy surplus with Canada. Or he doesn’t care. We import $900 M in dairy products a year and export just under $211 M. How can he win a NAFTA ruling? He can’t, so he will force renegotiations on Canada.
It’s not all calm and tranquil with Canadian milk. While farmers enjoy a degree of stability, dairies are consolidating and streamlining. Major Nova Scotia player Scotsburn, which had closed operations in St. John’s, was later purchased by Agropur of Quebec. Various plant closures and layoffs have occurred in all Atlantic Provinces. Dairy giants Agropur, Saputo and Parmalat have gained control of a major share of the Canadian market.
ADL, a producer-owned major dairy based in Summerside, will face stiff challenges from cheese imports under the recently signed CETA agreement with the European Union.
Canada’s stable supply management system, which puts the burden on consumers, is far more efficient than American farm subsidies, which puts the burden on taxpayers. Yet, somehow, the fair treatment of US dairy farmers starts in Canada?
U.S. dairy farmers are simply producing too much milk. The USDA reports that 43 million gallons of milk were dumped in the first eight months of 2016. And how is this Canada’s fault?
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney offers some sage advice. Canada should pay heed to the man who negotiated and signed NAFTA, and who is a personal friend of his Florida neighbour Donald Trump. To paraphrase Mr. Mulroney, “Keep your head down, your mouth shut, go to court or a trade tribunal and eventually Canada will win, like we always have done.”