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Mixed local reaction to new USMCA trade agreement

While Canada was able to get concessions for dairy, peanuts and peanut products crossing the border, many in the nation - particularly outside of government and in the much - discussed dairy industry are worried about what the country gave up to placate Trump.

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While the reaction from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to the so-called “NAFTA 2.0” deal recently reached has been positive, local officials are giving off mixed signals.

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Earlier this month, Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland appeared at a press conference in Ottawa to herald the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement as a huge win for each involved nation.

While Canada was able to get concessions for dairy, peanuts and peanut products crossing the border, many in the nation – particularly outside of government and in the much – discussed dairy industry are worried about what the country gave up to placate Trump.

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“We haven’t seen the full text of the agreement or received a briefing from the government,” Conservative MP Dane Lloyd said earlier this month. “I think agriculture really gave up to the Americans, we absolutely caved and it’s not in their interest to ever renegotiate the agreement.”

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Of the terms, which have come out, a particular point of concern has been the dairy concessions. Assuming the new deal is ratified by each nation, the United States dairy industry will get access to 3.6 per cent of Canada’s dairy market.

In a recent CBC report, farmers in Ontario, who Freeland has said will receive compensation for revenue losses, said their long-held family farms would likely go under and questioned whether they would be actually helped by Trudeau.

“I look after the books for the farm, so I’m terrified,” Ontario dairy farmer Vicki Cork said in the Oct. 6 article. “Until they actually say something official, we really have no idea what the compensation will look like.”

According to Lloyd, if the information he’s heard turns out to be correct, Canadian farmers are in for even more change than initially assumed at the agreement’s announcement. What he’s heard is there will be a specific number of Canadian dairy products allowed to leave the country each year.

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“I’ve been told we’re looking at a cap of 40,000 tons of Canadian dairy as a limit. Previously we exported all our dairy,” he said.

Though there’s a lot of fear and confusion about the new deal, those following it should keep in mind it is not yet in place. No one is presently feeling the impact, because, as Parkland County officials said in a statement, any real impact (on them) is not yet realized.

“Parkland County is aware of the recently signed USMCA, however at this time the impact on municipalities is not yet clear,” the statement said. “Any updates or changes to County operations resulting from this agreement will be brought forward to Council and informed through to residents.”

epretzer@postmedia.com

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