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Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Dittmer: Ratifying the new NAFTA deal

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

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With all the hoopla over the U.S.-China negotiations, the ratification of the re-done NAFTA trade deal (USMCA-CUSMA) hasn’t been in the news much. But its passage is critical to all three nations involved. The issue has shifted from the diplomats and negotiators to the politicians. That’s sad and bad. In the U.S., the treaty is […] Read more
The prospect of a China-U.S. trade deal continues to hold major potential.
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

U.S. on the cusp of a China trade deal

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
Despite not meeting the end of March deadline originally set in the President Xi Jinping-President Trump meeting, the trade negotiations between China and the U.S. moved along at a relatively rapid clip in March and April. The revised goal was to have an agreement ready for the leaders to sign by late April-early May. Rather […] Read more
As data technologies advance, nutrition professionals have suggested the research process that determines dietary guidelines be updated.
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Improving your government’s nutrition advice

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

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Seems I’m always apologizing for something from down here that migrates north and causes trouble. This time, though, I’d like to shed some light on how to fix things, in case you’d like suggestions to add to your own ideas. I’m referring to our influence on your Canada’s Food Guide. First, a little history you […] Read more
A renegotiated NAFTA was supposed to bring an end to steel and aluminum tariffs on member countries. So why are they still in place?
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Enough is enough on tariffs

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
I’m not sure what’s happening in Canada but in the States, the steel and aluminum tariffs the U.S. put on Canada are not being mentioned at all. A search of the media stories does not show anything much up in Canada either. How can it be that something that important between two neighbours is escaping […] Read more
Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, shown here at a Nov. 1, 2018 press conference, considers the steel and aluminum tariffs the Trump administration imposed against Canada illegal.
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

USMCA frictions continue

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
After months of negotiation, it looked like maybe it would get easier. Yes, getting the USMCA through national legislatures would be difficult and the steel and aluminum tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs were still in place. But negotiations on steel and aluminum tariffs were ongoing and intense, we were told. Yet up until the night […] Read more
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Unfinished business

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
I had a discussion recently with a trade expert from the Canadian Consulate in Denver. The occasion was a celebration of the conclusion of the USMCA. Our discussion revolved around getting rid of the steel and aluminum tariffs the U.S. had put on Canadian and Mexican exports of those products. That is the key to […] Read more
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Resurrection of GIPSA Rule a bad idea

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

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I’m sure you all are tired of bad ideas from south of the border. So I’m sad to report that one of our fringe groups down here has partially resurrected one of the most self-destructive ideas to ever come out of government, in collusion with attorneys and livestock industry malcontents. Those of you with memory […] Read more
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Eureka! At last, we have a renegotiated NAFTA

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

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While it seems like forever to us, these kinds of diplomatic trade battles usually take several years to settle, not just a little over a year. Of course, President Trump wasn’t around before now, pushing people’s buttons and impatiently demanding results like a business tycoon. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a major point that the […] Read more
U.S. President Donald Trump at a Make America Great Again rally in Topeka, Kansas, on Oct. 6, 2018.
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections

Down to the bitter end

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
I’ve talked to a lot of cattlemen across America in the last year. To a man, or woman, they are not comfortable with some of President Trump’s brash New York style. Of course, one has to remember how his business career forged him. He has dealt with wealthy, egotistical national and international property owners; tough […] Read more

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AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending July 19, 2019

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