KANSAS CITY, Missouri – It was once a burning trade issue, but just a few months after a costly trade battle, the matter of Canadian hog imports to the United States seemed to disappear at the National Pork Industry Forum.
Industry leaders didn’t mention the issue or the battle, won by Canada, in their speeches or presentations and delegates did not raise it in discussion sessions.
The most direct reference to Canada came in a resolution put forward during the National Pork Producers Council annual meeting by Iowa producer representatives, who called for an express lane to be established at “key” border crossings so Canadian pigs could more quickly pass into the U.S.
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The resolution was passed with a majority vote of the producer delegates and stirred little debate.
In an interview, former NPPC president Jon Caspars, who was involved in the multimillion-dollar fight against Canadian hog imports, said the unanimous ruling of the U.S. International Trade Commission against the NPPC’s complaint mean that another complaint is unlikely soon.
“With the finding by the ITC that we couldn’t prove injury, that was a hurdle we had to overcome and it was quite difficult to prove that in light of the high hog prices,” said Caspars.
U.S. hog producers have enjoyed more than two years of straight profits and often record high hog profit margins. There were no major debates on any issue during the National Hog Industry Forum, which brings together the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council for their annual meetings. Often in the past there have been rancorous debates about such issues as the industrialization of agriculture, but this year nothing ignited controversy.
A number of American agricultural journalists at the conference said it was the quietest they could remember and attributed the mood to the long run of profits in the industry.
Caspars said the lack of discussion about Canadian hog imports may be a sign of a more conciliatory approach.
American producers would like to see whether another costly battle can be avoided by ironing out differences.
“Realistically, I think everyone on both sides of the border thinks we should at least make some attempt to co-ordinate farm programs a little more closely so we don’t see problems arise again,” said Caspars, attributing the recent fight to differences between farm support programs, not bad behaviour by farmers on either side of the border.
“I think maybe there’s some movement to try that a little bit, especially because of the (results of the recent federal) election in Canada. There might be some movement there to work closely with the United States.”
Former U.S. agriculture secretary and trade representative Clayton Yeutter said he thinks the new Conservative government in Ottawa could improve the cross-border situation.
