Prairie hog producers exporting to the United States might be able to escape the duty on American corn, says the head of the Manitoba Pork Council.
“We are going to still be able to bring in a lot of corn with no duty,” said Karl Kynoch, the pork council chair. Duties already paid or that continue to be collected may be refunded.
“If you’re exporting pork out of Canada, you can claim all the duty back on the corn that was used to produce that pork.”
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The Manitoba Pork Council met with Canadian Border Services Agency Dec. 23 and was informed that Canadian import laws allow for duty exemptions on products that will be re-exported.
“That was really good news,” said Kynoch.
Duties have been collected on U.S. corn imports since Dec. 15. Canadian corn producers asked for the action, claiming that U.S. corn is subsidized by government, creating unfair competition and depressing prices.
The Canadian Border Services Agency agreed and imposed the duty, effectively shutting the door to most U.S. corn imports. This has upset livestock producers who rely on cheap feed grain to compete with American livestock producers.
The pork council estimated producers could lose $20 per hog because of the duty.
Information that the duties may be refundable or avoidable has been cheered by Manitoba hog producers, who more than other prairie producers rely upon the U.S. market and U.S. feed grains. They have reacted quickly.
(See hog producers hope, page 2)
“There are a lot of producers already applying for duty exemption numbers,” said Kynoch.
Because of Manitoba’s heavy reliance on sales of market hogs and weanlings to the United States, the pork council is planning an even bigger bid to limit the corn duty.
“We are going to apply for a Manitoba-wide exemption on this duty because we export a larger percentage of pork than we import feed used,” said Kynoch.
“We’d like to get blanket coverage right across Manitoba.”
It is not yet known how the duty exemption will affect Canadian packers or producers who do not export their hogs south.
