Reading Time: 5 minutes The federal government’s release last week of its Emissions Reduction Plan has turned out to be the spoiler for new ag funding in Thursday’s 2022 budget — although more money is also pledged to help strengthen cross-country supply chains generally. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Thursday laid out a federal budget with about $452.3 billion […] Read more

Supply chain improvement funds pledged in federal budget
Money also added for support of TFWs, P.E.I. potato sector

U.S. requests CUSMA dispute panel on Canadian dairy quotas
TRQs improperly allocated, USTR alleges
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration on Tuesday escalated a simmering trade dispute with Canada over dairy import quotas, requesting that the first dispute settlement panel under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement be formed to review the matter. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said its complaint alleges that Canada was improperly allocating CUSMA tariff-rate import quotas […] Read more

Dairy farmers press feds on compensation promises, again
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s dairy farmers are again calling on the federal government to make good on its promise to compensate producers, after giving up market share of the supply-managed industry to more foreign competitors through trade pacts. The Liberal government, most recently in its Sept. 23 speech from the throne, has told Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) […] Read more

CUSMA pact takes effect under cloud of disputes, COVID-19
Deal appears to assure continuity of trade for agriculture
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington/Mexico City/Ottawa | Reuters — A modernized U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact took effect on Wednesday, ensuring continuity for manufacturers and agriculture, but the threat of disputes is exposing cracks in what was meant to be a stronger North American fortress of competitiveness. As the deal kicks in, the Trump administration is threatening Canada with new aluminum […] Read more

New declaration requirements coming up for grain deliveries
Regulatory changes also allow Canadian grades for U.S.-grown grain
Reading Time: 3 minutes Changes are afoot as early as next week for growers from all across Canada — and from the United States — who deliver grain to licensed Canadian buyers, as revised trade rules take effect between the two countries. With the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the successor trade deal to NAFTA, taking effect, new regulations addressing […] Read more

CUSMA pact to take effect July 1, USTR says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday said he has notified Congress that the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement will take effect on July 1, a month later than initially proposed. In a statement, Lighthizer said both Mexico and Canada had taken measures necessary to comply with their commitments under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada […] Read more

Parliament hustles through CUSMA ratification
Implementing bill passes before Commons adjourns until April 20
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Parliament rushed through ratification of the new Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) trade pact on Friday before taking a three-week break to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, a top government official said. Canada was the last of the three signatories to formally adopt the pact, prompting congratulations from the United States […] Read more

Trump signs CUSMA pact
Canada's ratification still to come
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a new North American trade agreement during an outdoor ceremony at the White House attended by about 400 guests — but not the key Democrats who helped secure congressional passage of the deal. Trump, on trial in the U.S. Senate on charges of abusing power […] Read more

Trudeau wants CUSMA deal ratified quickly
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday urged legislators to quickly approve a new continental trade pact but the main opposition party said it wanted to study the deal, indicating the ratification process could drag on. Canada is the only one of the three signatories not to have formally blessed the […] Read more

U.S. Senate passes CUSMA trade deal
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a revamp of the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement that includes tougher rules on labour and automotive content but leaves US$1.2 trillion in annual U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade flows largely unchanged. The legislation for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (CUSMA) passed on an 89-10 bipartisan vote, sending the […] Read more