On Sept. 17, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) began a 45-day public comment period on the effectiveness and impact of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Public hearings on CUSMA will be held in the U.S. this November. The process to review Canada’s most important trade agreement has begun.
Our relationships with partners, customers and suppliers in the U.S. matter now more than ever. Recently, Manitoba Pork joined Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn on a mission to Iowa. It was an opportunity to speak with farm leaders and politicians about the value of our integrated market and cross-border trade. We could not have received a warmer welcome. There is strong recognition south of the border of the importance of this trading relationship.
The USTR and U.S. Congress are unlikely to give much weight to comments from the Canadian pork sector, Canadian agriculture in general or even our federal and provincial governments. But they will listen to the governor of Iowa and the elected representatives of that state’s agriculture sector.
While it might look good on social media or television for a Canadian politician, in a fit of pique, to pour out Manitoba-distilled whisky over a disagreement with a multinational company or threaten to turn off the lights in American states, this is not how strong relationships are built. They are built by showing up at state fairs as friends and neighbours. Canadians cannot afford to turn away potential allies in the U.S. and Mexico with aggressive rhetoric from north of the 49th parallel. We need partnership, not posturing.
For Canadian agriculture, outreach should be a top priority — especially for the 90 per cent of farmers who depend on international markets for price discovery and sales. While we must continue diversifying our markets, we cannot replace the U.S. as a destination. For example, Manitoba ships more than three million live pigs to be finished in the U.S. every year. Today, these exports move under the protection of CUSMA. If we were to lose that protection, or see integration between U.S. and Canadian producers weakened, these animals would have no alternative markets. Communities across Manitoba would feel the economic impact.
Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers met in Winnipeg in mid-September. I am hopeful they discussed developing a strategic outreach plan with our U.S. partners. Not every minister needs to visit every state capital in the lower 48, but we should have a plan to ensure at least one agricultural delegation reaches most of them before the 45-day comment period on CUSMA’s effectiveness expires.
Which brings me to a closing observation: the U.S. has started public consultations on CUSMA. When will Canadian consultations begin? The best time to develop a strategic, pan-Canadian agricultural position on key elements of the agreement would have been 18 months ago. The second-best time is today. If this dialogue with the agriculture community does not occur, Canada risks entering the critical part of the CUSMA review with both industry and governments divided — a mistake that could have far-reaching consequences for farmers from coast to coast.
For agriculture, the overall goal in the CUSMA review must be preserving and expanding the integrated North American market for both commodities and food. For the benefit of farmers, processors and consumers, we must actively target the elimination of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, including regulatory misalignment between Canada and the U.S., restrictive country-of-origin labelling requirements, and individual state regulations that restrict trade within North America.
Our strategic discussions with CUSMA partners should also recognize that in an increasingly unstable global trading environment, secure trade within North America contributes to the national security of all three signatories and helps ensure a reliable, safe food supply for consumers across the continent.
