“My take is that it seems that more of the irritation with NAFTA is between the United States and Mexico than it is with the United States and Canada,” Possberg said.
”So, understandably, it would appear that any changes to NAFTA would probably be more significant to Mexico than it would be to Canada, but at this point, we’ve got an indication that the new President and his administration have identified trade as an issue, and quite frankly they’ve stated they have been taken advantage of in many of the trade agreements that are international in scope.”
“The next three months, six months, the next year is going to be very interesting how this thing all unfolds”
U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement and plans to renegotiate the NAFTA sooner rather than later.
“But we don’t really have an indication of what that means or how they intend to remedy it,” Possberg added.
”So, the next three months, six months, the next year is going to be very interesting how this thing all unfolds.”
Possberg also said that while the U.S. withdrawal from the TPP may actually benefit the Canadian pork industry, there are many unanswered questions when it comes to the renegotiation of NAFTA.
Possberg also observed about 20 percent of all of the pork produced in the United States is exported, so American pork producers certainly don’t want anything to happen that will hinder that trade.
And, he points out, Canadian pork producers are even more dependent on trade with 60 to 70 percent of the pork produced in Canada sold to foreign markets.
Source: Meatbusiness