The Canadian dairy sector has given up 18 per cent of the domestic market over several trade agreements.
That recent history of increased access is why Dairy Farmers of Canada is looking to the federal government to hold the line at any more access to the market during the upcoming CUSMA review process.
“There seems to be a fair bit of attention being paid to Canadian dairy, for some reason,” said David Wiens, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, who farms in Manitoba.
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“It’s interesting that in light of the trade balance being in favour of the U.S., that this keeps coming up.”
The American administration has claimed a lack of fairness in the dairy relationship between the two countries, but has not, to this point, targeted the dismantling of the supply management system.
The concern is around the administration of Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs), which help manage how products are imported into a country.
Canada originally allocated its U.S. import TRQs to domestic processors, but a 2021 U.S. appeal to the tribunal that oversees CUSMA disputes ruled in the U.S.’s favour, and the processor pool was changed.
The U.S. continues to have concerns with TRQ administration, but after a second appeal in 2022, the tribunal ruled in favour of Canada’s updated TRQ system.
Broader views on dairy
Dairy farmers hear lots of rhetoric from the American administration, and Weins recommends that they listen to diverse sources of information about dairy and trade.
“It’s important to also listen to what others are saying,” he said, including other people in the American dairy industry.
“Most industry feels that there’s quite a good trade arrangement between Canada and the U.S., and they don’t want to see that disrupted in a major way. And that sentiment is on both sides of the border,” he said.
Economists Aleks Schaefer of Oklahoma State University and Chris Wolf of Cornell University completed a study published last year showing Canadian imports of U.S. dairy products rose from $524.9 million in 2021 to $877 million in 2024.
Wiens says trade agreements aren’t perfect, “but they’re something”.
“The government has very much supported that there will be no further concession.”
