Well, the tide is going out in primary producer agriculture. Who will be left with clothes on?

Is the shifting tide due to the highest cost of production ever? The changing policy discussions? The geopolitical factors that come with trade wars? Or just the fact that weather events are becoming more common?

Whatever it is, there’s definitely a shift.

Growing up I never realized how much agriculture was trailing other industries in terms of financial acumen. We could once obtain loans with looseleaf net worth statements and personal tax returns. The words “accrual,” “debt service” or “working capital” were not words frequently thrown around, much less understood by most famers. 

In my early years agriculture was not profitable, and land was traded for property taxes. 

How things have changed.

As 2025 progresses, indicators of change have appeared. Banks are tightening up on reporting and covenants. Farms are starting to see cracks in their financial foundations. Even agricultural educational institutions are taking notice. 

A colleague of mine once commented that he had to be careful when discussing financial acumen with farmers during his presentations as it was a “touchy” subject. Well, guess what? Touchy doesn’t pay the bills.

As farmers move into a new reality of financial requirements, let’s break down the non-negotiables when it comes to running your business.

Accrual financial statements

For the first time, this spring I had a conversation with a lender who refused a restructure due to lack of historical accrual reporting. 

It was almost a breath of fresh air. 

For years the industry has been trying to push producers towards understanding and using accrual reporting over cash. Accrual allows the farm to identify if it’s profitable, not just if there’s money in the bank to pay the next bill. This is not to say that cash doesn’t have a place in key performance indicators, it just cannot be the only conversation.

Our partners to the south have been trying to push this standard for 30 years. Ever since the 1980s agriculture crisis, U.S. regulators and standards boards made it a key objective. But they have made little headway. 

I would like to think that Canada is closer but let’s say its efforts are the “best of the worst.” Over half of the primary producer industry has still not adopted accrual reporting and does not know if they are profitable year over year.

Call it the Holy Grail, but a true business requires accrual information throughout the year. Many of the farms we consult for now have internal controllers, monthly accrual reporting and know exactly where they stand in terms of profitability. 

This is how you can make decisions with no emotion, just data.

Budgets and projections

Budgeting is more of a spectrum than a destination. 

There are many factors that need to be considered when preparing a true projection that most fail to execute. The key areas of focus should be the following:

• Cost of production: The need to identify a farm’s true cost of production has never been greater. To move a step further you need to identify both an accrual and a cash number to appropriately market your product. One requires amortization (yes, this is a true cost as you are losing equity in your machines at a rapid pace per hour); the other needs debt payments as they are a cash drain and, depending on your leverage model, may be material. Overall, you need to identify a marketing plan that shows a sustainable return per bushel and per acre.
• Monthly burn rate: Without a monthly cash flow (preferably planned over an eighteen-month period) your ability to market falls only on price. For most farms, cash flow, logistics and many other factors go into when and how you market your products — even more so on livestock operations where you don’t have steady cash flow throughout the year. Knowing your monthly cash out-flows will help you make longer-term decisions.
• Capital planning: The time to decide on equipment and infrastructure is not when the salesperson sits down for a coffee. Most progressive farms create capital plans years in advance and stick to them. In the past, operations bought equipment in good years and then held tight when times got tough. This doesn’t allow for any future strategy or plan; it is purely emotional buying. Know what you can afford, when machinery requires replacement and how this affects your profitability and banking.

Key performance indicators

It still amazes me how many producers have never read a commitment letter from their lenders. 

On many farms, financial institutions are the only thing between them affording to put a crop in and calling the auctioneers. Agriculture is an equity rich-cash poor business and, as such, the ability to understand your key banking and internal ratios is more important than ever.

Following are the three indicators every operator should know at any point in their day:

• Working capital: How much cash you have available to cover future costs. This could be working capital cash in a bank account or grain in the bin that can be easily converted to cash. Working capital is calculated by your current short-term assets less your obligations due over the next year. This ratio determines how easily you can make sales and procurement decisions and whether you can take the family out for dinner on a Sunday night.
• Debt service: The indicator of whether you can make enough cash to pay your debt. For non-farm individuals this would be your employment income compared to your mortgage and car loans. For farms, this is whether over a three-to-five-year period the farm creates enough cash to cover the current debt obligations. This determines whether your banker will give you more money or shut the tap off.
• Debt to tangible net worth: Are your assets larger than the debt you maintain? This is the least important indicator with your lenders, but often a covenant, nonetheless. This indicates whether you have left enough of your personal wealth in the business in comparison to the bank’s risk. This often only becomes a broader conversation if land values decline or if you are slowly taking large amounts of cash out to buy personal assets.

Every time agriculture enters a down cycle the industry pushes primary producers into positive change.

It is an interesting trend as it follows the concept that good times create soft people, and hard times create hard people. 

Whether 2025 continues to be the year where we see the industry force change, only time will tell. But as an individual who speaks with a significant number of farms every year, I sometimes hope for short-term pain to force a long-term change.

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The trade deficit in May met expectations at C$5.9 billion, down from a downwardly revised C$7.6 billion in the prior month, Statistics Canada said. Exports increased by 1.1 per cent on a monthly basis after an 11 per cent slump in April.

This was the first increase in exports in four months, StatCan said, and was driven by record exports to the rest of the world, excluding the U.S.

“The biggest takeaway I see from the data is just diversification,” said Prince Owusu, senior economist with Export Development Canada.

“While we continue to bleed in the U.S., we are basically diverting trade to other markets,” he said.

Trade with U.S. at lowest levels since 2020

The share of the exports and imports with the U.S. dropped to their lowest levels in May, barring the pandemic year of 2020.

Exports to the U.S., Canada’s biggest trading partner, fell for the fourth month in a row with May registering a drop of 0.9 per cent.

In volume terms total exports were up 0.7 per cent in May.

President Donald Trump has imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports of Canada-made automobiles and 50 per cent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. Canada has also imposed retaliatory tariffs.

This trade skirmish between the two countries whose bilateral trade surpassed a trillion Canadian dollars last year has depleted Canada’s exports and has hit the job market.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump are aiming to reach some form of a trade deal by July 21.

Canada’s total exports for May were C$60.81 billion, up from C$60.12 billion in April, StatCan said.

This category increased by 15.1 per cent, driven mainly by exports of unwrought gold that were up 30.1 per cent to reach a record $5.9 billion.

“Most of the rise was attributable to higher physical shipments of gold to the United Kingdom,” the statistics agency said. Excluding metal and non-metallic mineral products, total exports were down 1.2 per cent, it added.

Canada looking for trade diversification

As trade with the U.S. has dropped, Canadian companies have been scouting for opportunities to increase trade with rest of the world.

Exports to countries other than the United States rose 5.7 per cent in May to reach a record high, StatCan said, but it was not enough to fully mitigate the impact of lost exports to the U.S., as well as China due to a drop in canola and crude oil shipments.

Total imports dropped by 1.6 per cent to C$66.66 billion, with imports from the U.S. falling by 1.2 per cent in May.

The Canadian dollar slightly weakened after the trade data and was trading down 0.23 per cent to 1.3615 to the U.S. dollar. Yields on the two-year government bonds were up 3.7 basis points to 2.706 per cent.

The deficit in May, albeit narrower than the prior month, is still among the highest seen historically and economists said that two months of decline will pull down the second quarter GDP.

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But the current geopolitical windstorm is something else entirely.

On his cattle operation near Birtle, Man., Tyler Fulton is making good use of livestock price insurance and has filed his annual application for AgriStability, a margin-based, federal business risk management (BRM) program that helps Canadian producers manage large income declines. He has seen growing interest in these programs from livestock producers this year as a result of the increased market risk in the sector, which is heavily integrated with the U.S. beef industry. 

“It doesn’t matter whether or not tariffs actually happen, the uncertainty remains,” says Fulton, who is also president of the Canadian Cattle Association. “We have moved to a new level of understanding of the importance of risk management across all of Canadian agriculture because we are so reliant on export markets.”

Some producers, however, aren’t certain that farm risk management programs are robust enough, especially for farmers who are highly reliant on export markets.

“If this is the new world we are going into, if we are going away from free and open trade, then all these sectors relying on exports need better income assurance programs that provide adequate coverage and can react fast enough,” says Jason Erskine, a Quebec dairy producer and director with Les Producteurs de Lait du Québec (Dairy Producers of Quebec) and the Union des producteurs agricoles (Quebec’s farmers’ union). 

“If you leave farmers too long without help you are going to burn the next generation, or the current generation, from doing the investments that they maybe would have done otherwise,” he says.

Many farm groups have been advocating for BRM tools that are bankable, predictable and functional. 

“This is paramount for farmers to ensure they can plant with confidence,” says Delaney Ross Burtnack, executive director of the Manitoba Canola Growers Association (MCGA). “The challenges that they are facing right now is why organizations like MCGA exist: to support farmers when they need to come together as one voice to influence these complex issues.”

Insurance has become a strategic tool

While the first line of defence is often government-backed BRM programs, there are also various private insurance options.

“We have certainly seen a renewed focus on the overall risk profile landscape for some of our farm customers,” says Ryan Johnston, vice-president National Practice Leader, Agriculture, at BFL CANADA. “We are noticing a unique change in viewpoint where insurance has become a strategic tool versus just a cost centre.”

It’s a shift that isn’t just driven by the current trade situation, but one that has been gathering momentum as farms become larger and the value of their operations increases.

“Farmers are becoming more sophisticated in their understanding of how insurance can provide adequate protection as they expand and grow,” Johnston says. “But they need to also understand how the insurance terms and conditions apply. ‘If this were to happen to my elevator or my dairy barn, how would the policy apply?’ Walking through those live scenarios with your insurance professional can be beneficial to understand ‘we’d be okay if that happened’, or ‘this would be catastrophic to our business’.”

The risk of overextending in a volatile market

Financial clarity and sound management also become increasingly important when there is more risk. 

“We have the ability to mitigate some of the risk, but with the political uncertainty that is happening around the world right now, being a little bit diverse, and not overextending if you can help it, are also important,” says Kevin Auch, a grain, oilseeds and pulse grower from Carmangay, Alta. 

“Try to keep some cash reserve or some ability to absorb some of these market shocks that we are seeing.”

What about investment decisions?

Against this backdrop of extreme uncertainty, Canadian farmers are adopting a new growth strategy of strategic self-reliance, says Yves Millette, CEO of Farm Business Consultants (FBC), which offers accounting and tax services across Canada to various sectors, including agriculture. 

What does that mean? For starters, farmers are going to think long and hard about where and how they make the most efficient use of their capital.  

“There are risk management programs, but cash-flow management becomes really important,” says Millette. “Things like big equipment purchases, we’re not going to see that, but what we will see is used equipment purchases and more repairs. There is self-discipline around all of that, and when you are in a business that is already squeezed and cyclical, and there is increased risk — which tariffs create — you need to be more conservative financially.”

At the same time, farmers are going to be looking for ways to get a higher return on their investments.

“They are going to delay with just plain old growth investment and be more focused on projects and investments that have a high return on investment potential,” Millette says.  

Being self-reliant, though, doesn’t mean that farmers are alone in figuring out how to weather these turbulent times. Perhaps more than ever, this is the time to seek out some external expert advice.

“Farmers are extremely sophisticated and one of the biggest risk takers in our economy, and they have to manage all these things,” Millette says. “They are largely self-reliant but there are people that have expertise in planning, succession and financial matters that they can and should access.”

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The two parties are seeking to update their trade accord from 2000, which covers only industrial goods, by adding services, government procurement, investment and farm produce.

EU proponents say the bloc urgently needs new partners to reduce its reliance on China, particularly for critical raw materials, and to insulate it from Trump tariffs. Last month, It struck a deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc.

“The modernized deal offers a renewed platform for coordination on future challenges – especially important given that the EU and Mexico are both in the crossfire of Trump’s tariff threats,” said Borja Gimenez Larraz, the European lawmaker overseeing the planned free trade agreement.

EU and Mexican negotiators reached an initial deal in 2018, and agreed in 2020 to grant reciprocal market access to each other’s tenders for public contracts.

However, a final agreement was delayed due to Mexico’s energy sector reform to give constitutional preference to state power generator CFE, which the Congress approved last year.

This removed potential benefits for EU energy companies and so revisions were agreed – reducing EU quotas for Mexican exports of beef, poultry and ethanol and adjusting local content rules to make it easier for the EU to export electric vehicles and batteries to Mexico than the other way around.

Practically all trade in goods will be duty-free, including for farm products such as Mexican chicken and asparagus and European milk powder, cheese and pork, albeit with some quotas.

The EU currently exports about 2 billion euros (C$2.97 billion) of agrifood products by year to Mexico, its second largest trading partner in Latin America. The EU is Mexico’s third-largest trading partner overall.

The agreement will allow Mexican companies to bid for government contracts in Europe and EU companies for those in Mexico, including at state level.

Mexico, which wants to reduce its reliance on the United States, has said the deal would grant it better access for products including orange juice, tuna, asparagus, honey, egg white albumin, as well as “equitable access” for meat products.

It is also set to recognize “geographical indications” for certain food and drink, a key EU demand, such as specifying that only cheese from Greece can be called Feta.

—Additional reporting by Kylie Madry in Mexico City

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The Chinese government announced that it was launching an investigation into alleged canola dumping by Canada. This came about week after the Canadian government said it was hiking tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles by 100 per cent and increasing levies on steel and aluminum from China by 25 per cent.

“I thought there were going to be some pricing opportunities in canola until China knocked the pieces off of the board,” Jubinville commented, noting there had been a scenario unfolding that could have seen a tightening of canola supplies.

That included Canada’s canola harvest for this year coming in below the 19.5 million tonnes forecast by Statistics Canada on Aug. 28. Jubinville added the crop reports from the Prairie Provinces have said yields are coming in lighter than expected. In fact, he went as far as to project the harvest amounting to less than 19 million tonnes.

Jubinville said there had been some estimates that projected canola exports to China for 2024/25 at five million tonnes. That would be up a little from the 4.9 million this year, according to the latest Canadian Grain Commission data.

Any loss in sales to China, he suggested, could be redirected towards Japan and Mexico – Canada’s next two largest canola customers. As well as to the European Union, which is facing reduced rapeseed production due to unfavourable weather earlier this growing season.

The August world oilseed report from the United States Department of Agriculture estimated the EU’s rapeseed output for 2024/25 at 18.9 million tonnes, down from 20 million the previous year. Also, the USDA cut China’s rapeseed production to 15.6 million tonnes for this year from 16.3 million last year.

One element to this sudden canola conundrum in Canada Jubinville pointed out has been the reaction by the federal government. In particular, the feds paying lip service to canola growers, but no indication so far of any kind of financial support for them.

“You have sideswiped the ag industry. You’re protecting the auto industry at the expense of canola,” said Jubinville.

He explained that when Australia and China had a trade dispute over the former’s barley that it took about 18 months to resolve, with tariffs levied on any Australian barley imports.

“Ultimately I think this [canola] tariff is coming and it will take years to resolve,” Jubinville stated.

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Canada has followed the lead of the United States and European Union, and announced last week a 100 per cent tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and aluminium from China.

“China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the discriminatory unilateral restrictive measures taken by Canada against its imports from China despite the opposition and dissuasion of many parties,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

The ministry said China will also initiate an anti-dumping investigation into some Canadian chemical products.

More than half of canola produced in Canada makes its way to China, the world’s biggest oilseed importer. Canola, also called rapeseed for certain variants, is used as a cooking oil and in a wide range of products including renewable fuels.

China’s rapeseed meal futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange CRSMcv1 jumped 6 per cent to 2,375 yuan ($333.56) per metric ton following the announcement, hitting its highest since Aug. 6.

• RELATED: ICE canola drops as China announces anti-dumping investigation

The ICE canola contract for November delivery RSX4 dropped to its daily limit of $45, or 7 per cent, to $569.7 per metric ton.

“Canada’s canola exports to China have increased significantly and are suspected of dumping, reaching US$3.47 billion in 2023, with a 170 per cent year-on-year increase in volume and a continuous decline in prices,” the ministry said.

“Affected by the unfair competition of the Canadian side, China’s domestic rapeseed-related industries continued to suffer losses,” it said.

China’s rapeseed meal prices have plunged 22 per cent so far this year amid abundant oilseed supply and rising domestic production.

“The current (edible oil) domestic consumption is not strong, and there is an abundant supply of domestic stocks,” said Ma Wenfeng, senior analyst at Beijing-based agriculture consultancy Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy.

China imports its canola predominantly from Canada, followed by Russia and Mongolia.

“Arrivals from Canada have been growing at a fast rate,” Ma said.

The world’s second largest economy imported 5.5 million tons of canola in 2023, valued at $3.72 billion. Imports from Canada accounted for 94 per cent of the total.

Comparatively, the bulk of China’s electric vehicle exports to Canada is from Tesla’s Shanghai factory and local Chinese firms have no big exposure to that export market yet.

Canadian imports of automobiles from China to its largest port, Vancouver, jumped 460 per cent year over year to 44,356 in 2023, when Tesla started shipping Shanghai-made EVs to Canada.

The Chinese spokesperson said it intends to resort to the World Trade Organization dispute settlement mechanism for Canada’s relevant practices.

The Canadian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has also initiated trade investigations on imports of pork, brandy and dairy from the European Union in response to curbs on its electric vehicle exports.

Alternative supplies

China had targeted Canadian canola in previous trade tensions. In 2019, it suspended two Canadian canola exporters before removing the restrictions three years later.

Analysts said China could turn to Australia and Ukraine for alternative supplies, especially as Australia’s canola production is ample.

Canola production in Europe has been hit by poor weather while China’s agriculture trade with Ukraine is limited.

“We expect China to buy larger volumes from Australia if restrictions on Australian canola are eased,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at IKON Commodities in Sydney.

“As of now Australia’s canola exports to China are negligible, just about 500 tons since the beginning of 2024,” Houe said.

China’s imports of Australian canola have been restricted due to concerns about blackleg disease.

($1 = 7.1201 Chinese yuan renminbi)

– Reporting by Mei Mei Chu, Naveen Thukral and the Beijing newsroom.

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Chinese firms have asked for an anti-dumping probe into pork imports from the European Union, state-backed Chinese media reported on Friday, escalating tensions after the bloc imposed anti-subsidy duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

China imported $6 billion worth of pork, including offal, in 2023 and more than half came from the EU, Chinese customs data showed. Ending those orders would result in a huge loss of business for Europe’s meat industry.

“The full suspension of EU pork exports to China would be a potential nightmare scenario for the pork supply chain, with implications across the EU,” said Justin Sherrard, global strategist animal protein at Rabobank.

Sherrard added that the disruption would be felt across pork supply chains in Europe, resulting in lower prices and profit margins on unwanted stock produced by the region’s farmers.

China buys pig meat including ears, noses and feet, for which there is little demand from European customers. The ability to export those parts of the animal helps generate a higher value for the whole carcass, analysts say.

“It would take time, but may be possible for EU exporters to find alternative markets for the pork muscle meat cuts that are currently shipped to China,” Sherrard said. “However, I doubt alternative markets could be found for EU pork ‘variety meat’ exports that are currently shipped to China.

‘Painful’

Germany’s pork industry has already suffered an import ban by China since 2020 after the disease swine fever was found in Germany.

Its largest meat processor Toennies expects pork prices to fall if exporters such as Spain seek new markets for lost Chinese sales resulting in a “painful loss of income”.

“If EU exporters, particularly Spain, cannot sell pork to China, some sales would have to be made within Europe and downward pressure on EU pork prices can be expected,” said Toennies spokesperson Thomas Dosch.

After finding themselves unable to sell pork to China following the swine fever ban, Germany’s pork producers sought alternative uses for unwanted pig parts including as ingredients in sausages, pet food and industrial fats.

“While alternative uses can be found, they are not as profitable as selling directly to China,” said Dosch.

South America could benefit if China seeks alternative supplies, experts say.

“This would especially be expected to involve extra sales from Brazil to China, which has been expanding its export capability in past years,” said Tim Koch, meat analyst at German market consultancy AMI.

Top pork exporters to China (graphic)

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Canada has exported 1.286 million tonnes of lentils during the crop year-to-date, running about 25 per cent behind the pace at the same time a year ago, according to the latest Statistics Canada trade data through the end of April. Of that total, green lentils accounted for 337,500 tonnes and red lentils at 690,000 tonnes.

Lentil exports during the month of 93,200 tonnes were down from 121,000 tonnes the previous month.

India has been the top destination for Canadian lentils during the marketing year, at 447,500 tonnes through nine months. Turkey had been the largest buyer at the same point a year ago, but their purchases have fallen off sharply in 2023/24, taking only 119,600 tonnes so far.

Canadian pea exports in April came in at only 60,060 tonnes, roughly half of what moved the previous month. However, year-to-date movement through nine months of the marketing year of 2.212 million tonnes were slightly ahead of the 2.178 million tonnes at the same point in 2022/23. Yellow peas account for just over three-quarters of the pea exports.

China holds the top spot for Canadian pea exports through April, at 973,100 tonnes, with India in second place at 730,000 tonnes. India was nonexistent as a pea buyer in 2022/23, with cuts to their import tariffs accounting for the increased movement this year.

Canadian chickpea exports in April came in at 10,800 tonnes, which was down from about 17,900 the previous month. Year-to-date shipments of 165,700 tonnes are running about one per cent behind the year ago pace.

Large green lentils are currently trading in the 72 to 78 cents per pound range in Western Canada, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data, with new crop bids around 52 to 55 cents. Old crop red lentils top out at 36 cents per pound, with the new crop only slightly lower at 33 cents.

Green peas delivered to the elevator are trading at roughly C$15.00 to C$18.50 per bushel, with yellow peas in the C$11.40 to C$13.00 per bushel area. New crop pricing for the two crops can be found as high as C$14.50 and C$12.35 per bushel respectively.

Large calibre Kabuli chickpeas are currently trading at around 43 to 45 cents per pound according to Prairie Ag Hotwire, with new crop bids topping out at 42 cents per pound.

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They can now rest easy because the U.S. is no longer negotiating those types of pacts, much to the chagrin of U.S. farm groups.

Virginia Houston, director of government affairs with the American Soybean Association, says president Joe Biden’s administration feels FTAs pit U.S. domestic industries against one another.

That was one of the messages U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai delivered to Congress when she testified in front of the House and Senate this April.

“One thing she said multiple times is that while farmers and agriculture benefit from traditional FTAs, workers do not,” said Houston.

“They feel that the traditional FTAs tend to disadvantage domestic manufacturing.”

However, U.S. farm groups are lamenting the loss of FTAs. The last one was the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement that took effect May 15, 2012.

“U.S. agriculture wants more traditional free trade agreements because FTAs include tariff reduction measures and they also include codified market access,” she said.

“Without those, it’s hard to gain footholds into new markets.”

That is why 33 U.S. farm groups recently sent a letter to Tai urging her to recommit to an aggressive trade agenda that includes FTAs.

“Export markets are essential for our survival, and comprehensive trade agreements and elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers help ensure that U.S. agriculture can compete on an even playing field in our export markets,” stated the letter.

Tai also received another letter from 21 U.S. senators making the same point.

“While the Biden administration continually refuses to pursue traditional free trade agreements, China, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others continue to ink trade pacts that diminish American export opportunities and global economic influence,” stated that letter.

Michael Harvey, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, is pleased Canada continues to negotiate FTAs while the U.S. has stopped.

“It can be an advantage for us if we work on these agreements where there is solid market access,” he said.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a good case in point.

The U.S. bowed out of that pact, which gives Canadian exporters a leg up in some key markets as long as signatories to the agreement work hard to ensure market access provisions in the deal are upheld and enforced.

Canada is also negotiating agreements with Indonesia and ASEAN nations that could prove advantageous.

Harvey said the anti-FTA stance of the U.S. dates back before Biden taking office.

“We’ve definitely seen that the last three American administrations have not been interested in market access the way administrations used to be,” he said.

The Democratic Party has always been skeptical about international trade due to its strong ties to trade unions.

“But the Republicans have moved in a more nationalist direction too and are a lot more skeptical than they used to be,” said Harvey.

Both parties are fed up with China’s notorious trade practices, which is influencing their trade policies.

People are also blaming trade agreements for reduced employment in the manufacturing sector rather than pinning the blame on the real culprit, which is technological advancements, said Harvey.

He believes the Canadian government needs to take the offensive to ensure the same anti-trade sentiments don’t creep across the border. Ottawa needs to remind Canadians of the economic benefits of trade.

“People are forgetting how much trade is contributing to our standard of living,” said Harvey.

That is why he is pleased Canada recently opened its Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office in Manila, Philippines, to encourage trade in that important region.

In the meantime, U.S. farm groups are hopeful their government recommits to negotiating and signing FTAs because the current tactics are not cutting it.

Houston is encouraged that many members of Congress are onboard with their lobbying effort.

“We do know our voice is being heard,” she said.

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China blocked imports of Australian commodities including coal, timber and barley after Australia called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 in 2020.

Most of these restrictions have been removed since a change of government in Canberra last year.

The trade ministry said China’s Customs agency had announced the lifting of restrictions for three of Australia’s largest meat exporters, without naming them.

Around seven other Australian abattoirs remain on the restricted list.

The ministry said the three producers could ship goods to China from Dec. 11 “pending final administrative processes required by each side.”

“This is another positive step towards the stabilization of our relationship with China,” Trade Minister Don Farrell said, adding that the government would “keep pressing for the remaining trade impediments to be removed as soon as possible.”

–Reporting for Reuters by Peter Hobson.

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