A Canadian Meat Business exclusive by Scott Taylor
In fact, the Ottawa-based Director of Government and International Relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association believes quite strongly in a single, positive approach to what might appear to some as administrative and legislative chaos south of the border.
“I have a saying I’m sticking to,” an upbeat Masswohl said via telephone from Nashville, Tenn. “It’s called ‘finding opportunity in uncertainty.’
“We’re busy taking every opportunity we have to interact with Americans and convince them – although in fairness, most of the people we have worked with don’t need all that much convincing – that trade between our two nations has long been beneficial to both sides and will be beneficial in the future.
“It’s worth remembering that the only time the US fully closed its border was on 9/11. And we all understood that. You’re under attack and you’re going to hunker down. No one had a problem with that, at the time. But then, within a few hours, auto plants all over the United States were shutting down and sending their workers home because they didn’t have enough parts to continue building cars.
“What we’re doing is reminding Americans – and people all over need to be reminded – that American jobs rely on trade. Sure, it’s easy to become concerned about a trade deficit, but the movement of goods in both directions means more jobs for Americans as well as Canadians.”
“Just remember, our industry is not in the crosshairs. In terms of international trade, a lot of President Trump’s people are from the steel and manufacturing industries and trade agreements have, indeed, hurt those segments more significantly than they’ve hurt agriculture”
It’s been a rather amazing month as Donald J. Trump settles in as President of the United States. The New York-based hotelier, landlord, salesman, reality TV star/producer and elite country club operator rode to power on a platform that included, among other things, building a wall between the United States and Mexico, pulling out of the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership and making life as miserable as possible for people who didn’t operate businesses within the United States.
The loud, charismatic and yet obviously undisciplined, indelicate and often careless 45th U.S. President, has made a number of statements that have beef and cattle producers on both sides of the border wondering (a) when will it end, (b) why is this happening and (c) what’s the end game?
For Masswohl and his boss, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association President Dan Darling of Ontario, an attitude of wait-and-see is substituting for the approach known as, “oh-my-goodness-what-happens next?”
Of course, Masswohl is eminently suited for the White House’s current chaotic approach to international business. Based in the CCA’s Ottawa office, Masswohl is the association’s government and international relations liaison. He spends the majority of his time as the voice for the Canadian beef industry to both the Canadian and U.S. governments, as well as maintaining international relations around the world.
Masswohl joined the CCA after previously working closely with the Canadian beef industry as Agriculture and Trade Counsellor with the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
He is experienced enough to understand clearly that despite all the talk in Washington – talk that seems to be going off in all directions — international trade has never been in as good a place as it is today.
“Our approach to the situation in Washington is business as usual,” Masswohl said. “I’ve been around all this for more than 15 years and I can say, there has not been a day when something doesn’t come up that’s crucial and sometimes controversial in terms of international trade. However, I can also say that we’ve never been in as good a position on trade as we are right now.
“I look at it this way. Despite what President Trump says from day to day, we’re not in any trouble, at least not yet. Our relationship with the beef and cattle organizations in the United States has never been better, more co-operative and more understanding of each other’s needs than it is right now.
“I believe when it comes to our relationship with the United States, we just have to take everybody aside and assure them that Canada-US trade is beneficial to everyone and from what we’ve encountered, our American counterparts share our view. We just have to continue to remind them that we have mutual interests that are made stronger by our solid, positive, long-term relationships.”
That being said, there are some choppy waters out there. There is CETA and TPP and a U.S. President who has convinced many Americans that international trade is a problem and if something isn’t done in the good ol’ USA soon then trade must be stopped – immediately.
Masswohl and Darling are not going to spend a lot of their time worrying about it.
“I think we might end up in a situation where we might have to negotiate individually with some countries on trade or we might have to deal with something in regards to President Trump that upsets current agreements,” said Darling. “It is concerning from the perspective that nothing seems to be off the table with Mr. Trump. We were hoping that we were all going to be more liberal on trade, but there is no longer a guarantee that it’s going to go in that direction and we will have to be prepared for potential stoppages and the occasional extra tariff or even border closing.
“However, I also don’t believe you can worry about the every-day. President Trump has been firing shots over every bow, often just to see what he can flush out. I think he likes having people on edge. We just need to think long-term and go about our business as we always have, keeping in mind that what comes out of Washington now is not necessarily what we’re used to anymore.”
In the meantime, Canada is still upbeat about both CETA and the TPP. And while Trump has officially pulled the United States out of the TPP (actually the Republican Congress was not going to support it anyway), CETA is proceeding. While the agreement isn’t completed yet, both Masswohl and Darling are convinced it will be beneficial for Canadian cattlemen.
Negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) began in 2009 and ended in August 2014. The deal aims to eliminate 98 per cent of tariffs between Canada and the European Union and includes new courts for investors, harmonized regulations, sustainable development clauses and access to public sector tenders. The agreement was signed in late October during the EU-Canada Summit.
“On CETA, we are optimistic the final agreement will be completed, but we do have some significant technical issues to iron out,” said Masswohl. “In virtually every public document related to CETA, the CCA has indicated that while the zero-duty quotas for additional access to European markets are welcome, the real benefits for Canada will come through removing longstanding technical barriers and these include carcass washes such as citric acid and peroxyacetic acid.
“Until these treatments are approved, the signal that we have from the cattle side, from Cargill and JBS, is that they will not be interested in accessing the European market. And, as long as Cargill and JBS remain uninterested in the European market, there’s not really much incentive for cattle producers to increase their production of cattle that are eligible for Europe.
“However, we aren’t giving up on the process. There is a lot to do, but everyone agrees if we can come to an agreement on these technical issues, then CETA could be, potentially, worth $600 million a year to us and would be our second largest trade agreement. Right now, all of our negotiations are designed to make the agreement better and while we wish it was a fait acompli, we aren’t going to give up on the process. We are committed to the advocacy plan and we’re doing the technical work and if we’re committed and our government is committed then I believe it will happen, but I would also say it’s at least three years down the road.
Meanwhile, as Trump publicly pulled out of the TPP, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association was almost immediately looking at ways to make the agreement work without the United States.
“TPP is now a little less clear,” Masswohl said. “The original agreement involved 12 countries, but they all agreed that 85 per cent of each country’s GDP had to be part of the agreement to make it go forward. The United States would look at no more than 65 per cent and now they won’t proceed.
“But that doesn’t mean the negotiations have ended. There are now discussions about bringing in China. We know that both Korea and Taiwan want in. So stay tuned on that one over the next couple of months.”
Both Darling and Masswohl are still bullish on international trade and also on Canada’s desire to be part of it.
“I think it’s safe to say that despite what you hear in the news every day, trade issues aren’t as grim as they might sound,” said Darling. “As John says, it’s better today that it’s ever been before. If some of the bigger agreements fall through, we will continue to direct our attention to bi-lateral agreements or with the remaining TPP partners.”
Masswohl agreed and added that there are always issues with which to deal, especially when those issues involve international traded relations.
“We’re in a constant state of expectation,” he said. “Hey, another BSE case could come up tomorrow and some country might irrationally over-react and shut their borders and we’ll have to deal with that. You know, possibly talk of COOL could come back, although I think we’ll see that coming at a distance and have our various retaliations at the ready.
“But I think my point is this, you can see the Bogeyman in every corner if you want, but we choose not to. Our counterparts at the National Cattle and Feed Association and at the national Cattlemen’s Beef Association agree that trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States works for all of us. And you know, President Trump just ordered that for every new regulation, two have to be removed. For us, there are a number of old, outdated regulations that could be dropped as soon as possible so maybe that type of order will be good for trade between our nations.
“Just remember, our industry is not in the crosshairs. In terms of international trade, a lot of President Trump’s people are from the steel and manufacturing industries and trade agreements have, indeed, hurt those segments more significantly than they’ve hurt agriculture.
“We’re just going to continue to remind our counterparts that American jobs rely on trade moving in both directions and thus far, I would say that we haven’t had any problem doing that.
Source: Meatbusiness