It’s going to cost millions of dollars, but Canadian hog producers are willing to pay whatever it costs to beat back American duties on Canadian hogs, producers said at a meeting in Winkler, Man., on Nov. 5.
However, they also think farmers alone shouldn’t have to carry all the weight.
A lot of other people make money off the hog industry and they should be contributing too, says the head of Manitoba Pork Council’s fundraising drive.
“Our success is their success. In the last 10 to 15 years a lot of the industries that we have been supporting have been very successful,” said Lauren Wiebe, a hog producer from St. Malo, Man. “Now we’re in a time of need and we hope they realize that and contribute.”
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The council has already mailed letters to hundred of companies, including feed manufacturers, veterinarians, truckers and concrete suppliers.
It’s this willingness to look to the private sector for help that Wiebe said sets the fundraising effort apart from other industries.
“Most industries have turned to government in times of crisis and look for handouts, but we say let’s look inside,” Wiebe said.
“We are all entrepreneurs and we have ways of raising funds.”
Hog producers across Canada are uniting to fight against an attempt by their U.S. counterparts to impose permanent duties on imported Canadian hogs.
Temporary duties were recently imposed while the U.S. International Trade Commission investigates whether Canadian hogs are sold into the American market at prices below the cost of production.
Manitoba’s hog producers, who are the most affected by the duties because millions of Manitoba weanlings are exported south every year, have collected money and engaged lawyers to fight the case, but the province has joined with the rest of the country’s pig producers to share costs and present a united front.
Manitoba producers’ intense commitment to fight the duties comes from a mixture of fear and outrage.
The permanent imposition of duties at the present rate of 14.06 percent would badly hurt Manitoba hog farmers’ profitability when U.S. market prices drop, which means farmers can’t afford to allow the duties to stand.
But Manitoba Pork Council chair Karl Kynoch said farmers are also incensed that their fair and free trading industry is accused of being subsidized.
“We believe their laws are very unfair,” Kynoch said.
“How can you say our live hogs are hurting them when all they do is turn profits off of our hogs that are going down there?”
U.S. trade lawyer Daniel Porter, who is representing Canadian hog producers’ interests, said he intends to show that the Canadian hog industry is a great example of an industry that has adapted and thrived in a free trade environment.
Wiebe said the anti-dumping duty seems ridiculous because the success of his farm, which exports about 125,000 weanlings per year, is based on getting above-market prices.
“We’re paid a premium for the quality of pig that we ship,” Wiebe said.
“We get the U.S. price plus $1.50 per pig. How can you call that subsidized?”
