GFM Network News

More News →

Author Archives

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

By
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

By
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
Comment/Columns, Free Market Reflections, Markets

Two economies, two theories

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
In May 1983’s G7 Summit, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl asked President Reagan to “Tell us about the American miracle.” Kohl was referring to America’s booming economy while the rest of the world was floundering. Reagan explained that cutting tax rates incentivized citizens and businesses, stimulated economic growth and eventually increased total tax return to the […] Read more
Free Market Reflections, Markets

A lackluster summer for NAFTA

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
You might well have seen President Trump in recent weeks all over the world (North Korea, G7 Summit in Quebec, NATO meetings and Helsinki, Finland with Vladimir Putin). You might not have seen him at campaign events in West Virginia, Michigan, Minnesota and elsewhere, if Canadian TV doesn’t carry those hugely successful events. The point […] Read more
Almost from day one, President Trump has threatened to pull out of NAFTA if he doesn’t get the deal he wants.
Free Market Reflections, Markets

NAFTA brinkmanship fails to meet deadlines

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

By
The politicians promised we would know whether or not we were going to have a new NAFTA agreement by early May. Frankly, President Trump had it in his hands. The most important issue (gauged by the time invested in it), auto assembly and auto parts, has been discussed for weeks now, long enough that negotiators must have […] Read more

AgCanadaTV

AGCanadaTV: In Case You Missed It – Your National Ag News Recap for the week ending March 15, 2019.

Sponsored By:
More Videos →

Daily Newsletter

You'll receive current daily news every morning free, as well as market updates and special features.