The intent of everyone going into the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was to get it over quickly, at least quickly by international trade negotiation standards. Canada didn’t think there was a lot to fix, Mexico had presidential elections set for next July and the U.S. general opinion, except for President […] Read more
NAFTA anxiety continues to build
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
NAFTA talks take a sinister turn
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
The NAFTA negotiators have completed Rounds 3 and 4 and the progress has been glacial. What we don’t know is whether that is just as well, seeing we can’t be sure what will satisfy President Trump. Round 3, held in Canada, was devoted to getting on paper the items the three countries could agree on. […] Read more
Rooting the dietary guidelines in sound science
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
“There’s a lot of stuff in the Guidelines that was right 40 years ago but that science has disproved. Unfortunately, sometimes, the scientific community doesn’t like to backtrack.” That was David McCarron, nutrition researcher at the University of California-Davis nearly two years ago, commenting on the U.S. Congress ordering a comprehensive review of the way […] Read more
After two rounds
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Two rounds of NAFTA renegotiation have been held and the three participants have been sizing each other up. While the three nations laid out their objectives in the first round, the second round was more about consolidating the things all three can agree on and cutting out the things that will be more difficult or […] Read more
Trump needs to stop worrying about trade deficits
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
By now, the U.S., Canada and Mexico will have been through the first round of talks for renegotiating NAFTA. It’s expected they will get acquainted, lay their lists on the table and do little substantive in the first session. In early September, the second set of talks will be held in Mexico. Both Canada and […] Read more
A new cowplant for Idaho
CS Beef Packers will process 1,700 head per day
A family with lots of experience turning cows into beef has a brand new plant up and running at Kuna, Idaho, near Boise offering a new marketing option for cull cows to ranchers in the northwest U.S. and Western Canada. CS Beef Packers is a partnership between the Caviness family of Caviness Beef Packers in […] Read more
U.S. NAFTA objectives begin to focus the trade picture
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
Ever since President Donald Trump’s election, cattlemen on both sides of the border have worried about the NAFTA agreement that has governed trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico since 1994. Trump has called NAFTA the worst agreement the U.S. ever signed. In early conversations, Trump told Prime Minister Trudeau that very little of the […] Read more
Cross-border trade: Baby steps, clues and competition
The Trump administration has been hampered by the Democrat opposition party trying everything to delay confirmation of Trump appointees. So it was mid-May before the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was finally confirmed, nearly four months after the inauguration. That factor, plus Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s confirmation only a couple of weeks earlier, hampered the […] Read more
Events begin shaping trade with the U.S.
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
As Canadians who closely follow American politics know, the Democrats have not suffered their loss gracefully. But it’s not party hacks but citizens who suffer from obstructionist tactics. Of the 4,000 or so appointments needing Senate confirmation, only two or three dozen had been confirmed by mid-April. One of those delays could definitely affect trade […] Read more
The BAT that will smack trade
Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer
As if trade relations with the States under a new president weren’t uncertain enough for Canadians, the tax reform plan the Republicans introduced suddenly shows up with a nasty, anti-import provision in it. Suddenly, because in all the discussions over the last couple of years regarding big tax reform proposal — long before anyone knew Trump […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
