The General Manager of Manitoba Pork is calling on Ottawa to be prepared to provide assistance for Canadian farmers caught in the crossfire of a trade war between Canada and China. An article circulated through Manitoba community newspapers and posted to Manitoba Pork’s web site looks at international trade, the role of Canadian agriculture in the international market place and the level of priority being placed by government on securing access to overseas markets for Canadian agricultural products. Cam Dahl, the General Manager of Manitoba Pork, says farmers have good reason to be fearful that their trade interests will not be a priority as Ottawa deals with countries like China.
Quote-Cam Dahl-Manitoba Pork:
We’re seeing recently where recently Canada imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as well as steel and aluminum. There’s nothing wrong with trying to protect Canadian jobs against unfair competition but, almost immediately after, the Chinese government opened up an antidumping case against canola and I’m concerned that pork is on that list for retaliation as well. If the Government of Canada does take some of those steps, trade measures to protect a certain sector and agriculture is retaliated against, there needs to be some form of compensation, whether that’s additional market development work to open up other markets or other means of trying to offset some of the costs being borne by farmers, especially in western Canada, to some of the trade initiatives from Ottawa.
Dahl notes the Government of Canada has seen fit to offset the impact of trade agreements on other sectors of the economy and the same consideration should be given if our agricultural exports become political targets.
The article can be accessed through Manitoba Pork’s web site at ManitobaPork.com.
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