(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC sees benefits in new Trans-Pacific trade pact

CNS Canada — The future of trade for the Canadian agriculture industry is looking bright from the perspective of Canada’s federal ag lending agency, with progress on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). According to Farm Credit Canada (FCC), anytime Canada can get less-restricted access to markets it is good for agriculture. “We can […] Read more

(JeffLeal.onmpp.ca)

Sector growth to occupy Ontario ag minister in 2018

Ontario’s Liberals will have their agriculture standard-bearer back for the 2018 election. Jeff Leal, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, is staying in politics, running for his fifth term as a member of the provincial legislature in the Peterborough riding. Leal, who as a resident of Peterborough is about as rural as any […] Read more


U.S. President Donald Trump (r) and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on April 25 at the White House.

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



Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks March 30 at a Ford plant in Windsor, Ont. (PMO photo by Adam Scotti)

Trudeau defends dairy system against Trump protectionist charge

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday brushed off an attack by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada’s system of dairy protections, saying every nation defended its agricultural industries. Trudeau told Bloomberg Television that the U.S. in fact ran a dairy surplus with Canada. Trump took aim at Canada’s dairy industry […] Read more

(WhiteHouse.gov)

Trump expects only ‘tweaking’ of trade relationship with Canada

Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the country would be “tweaking” its trade relationship with Canada, stopping short of calling for a major realignment in a development likely to please visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump has pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) linking the […] Read more


(DonaldJTrump.com)

Protectionism game comes with raised economic stakes: Frum

As U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day approaches, the business world is pondering how the new administration might affect the world economy. Trump’s pride in his unpredictability is troubling, given he’s the president-elect, said David Frum, political commentator, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and a senior editor for Washington-based magazine The Atlantic. However, […] Read more

Canada's Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, at the news conference for the TPP's signing in Auckland, NZ.

CCA Report: Positive signs on trade front

From the February 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) participated in a roundtable with Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland in Edmonton in January as part of her consultations with provincial leaders, industry representatives and academics on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and on international trade. The timing coincided nicely with a letter CCA sent to the minister detailing the […] Read more


hamburger on a plate

CCA Report: An update on Canada’s beef trade

From the May 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Calving season is well underway and I am feeling very optimistic about the future. Prices, which seem to reach new market highs for all classes of cattle each week, are part of the reason. A global shortage of beef, largely due to prolonged and widespread drought, has pushed the U.S. cattle herd to a 50-year […] Read more

SIAL's multi-country meat display in Paris suggests other beef-producing nations aren't set to roll over and let Canadian beef sweep the continent.

The view from Europe on free trade with Canada

Beef exporters will need to be patient before cashing in on new EU opportunities

The prospect of a major increase in Canadian beef exports into the European Union, following the recent ending of negotiations for the EU-Canada free trade agreement, hung over this year’s SIAL food fair in Paris as a significant trading change, although one that is very much lodged in the “business pending” tray. For seasoned Canadian beef exporters, such […] Read more