Posted on March, 23, 2023 at 09:52 am
It’s been nearly six years since Canada ratified a major trade agreement with its second largest trading partner, the European Union. While the deal has been hailed as an overall success, it has yet to live up to its potential when it comes to agricultural exports from Canada.
At the time in 2017, it was projected the deal would drive additional ag exports from Canada of up to $1.5 billion per year, including $600 million in beef sales. However, beef exports were still only in the $20 million range, as of 2021. Non-tariff trade barriers have also limited exports of certain crops — durum wheat, for example — to Europe.
At the same time, concessions were made on dairy market access into Canada, with the Canadian government compensating dairy producers for allowing nearly 18 thousand tonnes of European cheeses into Canada.
On this episode of the Ag Policy Connection, we get into the nitty-gritty of the Canada-EU trade deal, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), including the negotiation process going back to the late 2000s, the political factors at play as the deal moved ahead under both Conservative and Liberal governments, what both sides were hoping to get out of the agreement, and whether it’s lived up to those expectations. We also discuss the political environment today, and whether the momentum that resulted in Canada signing a trade deal such as CETA still exists.
Source: Real Agriculture