Reading Time: 2 minutes Buenos Aires | Reuters — Agriculture ministers from the G20 countries criticized protectionism in a joint statement on Saturday, and vowed to reform World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, but did not detail what steps they would take to improve the food trade system. In the statement, they said they were “concerned about the increasing use […] Read more
G20 ag ministers slam protectionism, pledge WTO reforms
NAFTA teams ready to ‘start solving’ stalled issues, Mexico says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday that the negotiating teams for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are ready to kick off talks again after they stalled last month. NAFTA talks between the U.S., Mexico and Canada had stalled since June when the U.S. imposed tariffs on Mexican […] Read more
Mexico, Canada insist on three-way NAFTA deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Canadian and Mexican officials insisted that the North American Free Trade Agreement remain a trilateral pact on Wednesday and reiterated their opposition to U.S. calls for a so-called “sunset clause” that could end the deal after five years. After a meeting in Mexico City, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and […] Read more
Canada’s new export minister to push beyond U.S. market
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada has created a new federal cabinet position to help exporters look beyond the U.S. and there will be resources for small businesses that want to take advantage of new trade deals, the new minister for export promotion said on Tuesday. Mary Ng, who vaulted to cabinet-level last week to take […] Read more
Canada feeds Europe’s corn appetite as tariff war shrinks U.S. sales
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Canadian corn is flowing into Europe at the fastest pace in four years, helped by retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. by the European Union that has shut American corn out of the bloc, traders said. Corn shipments to western European countries rose 85 per cent year over year during the nine […] Read more
Chinese demand boosting Canadian wheat, barley exports
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — China is making major moves to import more Canadian wheat and barley this year. Data released by the Canadian Grain Commission show China more than tripled its wheat imports, taking in 979,100 tonnes as of May, up from 295,300 tonnes in the same period of 2016-17 and an increase of 231.6 per […] Read more
Pulse import plunge in India to ripple across Canada, Australia
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mumbai | Reuters — Pulse imports to India, the world’s biggest buyer, may fall to their lowest in nearly two decades after the government raised import taxes and restricted overseas purchases to bolster prices, impacting the plans of its global suppliers. The reduction in imports illustrates the government’s steps to raise the prices of pulses, […] Read more
Italy in no rush to reject EU-Canada trade deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — Italy is in no hurry to bring the European Union’s free trade agreement with Canada to a parliamentary vote, its farm minister said on Monday, suggesting its opposition to the deal may be easing. Ministers of the eurosceptic 5-Star/League government have said Italy would not ratify CETA (the Comprehensive Economic and […] Read more
Italy says it won’t ratify EU-Canada trade deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Rome | Reuters — Italy will not ratify the European Union’s free trade agreement with Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday, although Canadian officials played down the threat to the accord, which mostly took effect last year. “Soon CETA (the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) will arrive in parliament and this […] Read more
Interview: A taxing time for manufacturers
Ag manufacturers see uncertainty and higher production costs from steel tariffs
Reading Time: 6 minutes The opening salvos in a trade war initiated by the current U.S. administration are already having an impact on all the manufacturing sectors in Canada, the U.S and around the world, most of it negative. For example, it’s been announced that Harley Davidson, that icon of U.S. brands, feels it’s necessary to move some of […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
