Trade uncertainty characterized 2017 for federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay.
In a year that saw him travel extensively to promote Canadian products, three irritants continued to dog the industry: the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, Trans-Pacific Partnership 11 and India’s decision to slap import duties on pulses.
He wouldn’t speculate on when or if any of those would be resolved.
“I’ve travelled a fair bit in the U.S.,” the minister said during an interview. “I think I’ve met every state agricultural secretary. I’ve not met anybody that was not fully supportive of NAFTA and understood the great asset it was to quadrupling our trade right across North America.”
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MacAulay said businesspeople tell him the same thing. They don’t want to try to fix something that isn’t broken, he said.
“Some of them say, ‘don’t worry, it’s going to work out,’ ” he said. “I hope all this is true.
“Generally, the almighty dollar has a strong influence on what takes place and I would hope it would here.”
He said talks are ongoing with regard to the TPP-11, as well as with China where Canada recently gained access for $300 million worth of chilled beef and pork as part of a pilot project.
“Really at the moment, sure, there’s issues with TPP, there’s issues with NAFTA … but I do believe it’s a time to say for the agricultural sector the glass is half full,” MacAulay said. “The opportunities are big, there’s an expansion in the middle class right across the Asian community, they have to eat, they cannot provide all the food they need. My job is to make sure that our farmers are on the cutting edge and able to take full advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead. Is that without problems? No.”
Canada has a target of $75 billion in agricultural exports by 2025 and securing trade agreements are key to that. Although he’s not at the negotiating table, he says agreements will be made.
MacAulay also said he was disappointed that India imposed a import duties on pulses amid ongoing talks about fumigation exemptions for Canadian exports.
“We have officials on this side that are dealing with the Indian officials in an attempt to resolve it,” he said, although he couldn’t say when. “Overall, it’s certainly highly suspected that India will need more food.”
Finally, MacAulay said he is watching the progress of Bill C-49, which includes grain transportation measures, through the Senate.
“Ag might be 10 percent of the bill but I think it was 90 percent of what caused it to come ahead so quick,” he said.
