American farm groups just received an extra US$200 million to promote their agricultural products in foreign markets.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Jan. 31 that the money would be divided among 57 organizations.
It is part of a $12-billion aid package designed to offset “unjustified trade retaliation” by markets like China and Mexico.
“At USDA we are always looking to expand existing markets or open new ones, so we are proud to make good on the third leg of the president’s promise to America’s farmers,” U.S. secretary of agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a news release.
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“This infusion will help us develop other markets and move us away from being dependent on one large customer for our agricultural products.”
Neil Ketilson, chair of Canada Pork International, is envious of the cash injection his U.S. counterparts are receiving.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation is getting $17.6 million it says it will spend over the next three years. That is on top of the $14.1 million it received in 2018 from three USDA trade and market development programs.
“We just wish that we would have the same sort of ability within our government to be able to compete internationally at the same kind of levels,” he said.
The American Soybean Association received $21.9 million, the U.S. Grains Council got $13.9 million and U.S. Wheat Associates was awarded $8.2 million.
Grain Growers of Canada declined to comment.
Canada Pork International receives $2 million a year from Agriculture Canada’s AgriMarketing Program for market development activities.
That pales in comparison to what its U.S. counterparts are receiving.
Ketilson said $2 million doesn’t go very far for a sector of the agriculture economy that does $4 billion in annual exports.
“There is so much more we could do if we had double the budget. We could get into the emerging markets like Philippines and Vietnam,” he said.
Canada Pork International does some market promotion work in emerging markets but it is limited to trade shows where it conducts direct marketing.
“We haven’t got the kind of money to mass advertise. That would make a huge difference,” said Ketilson.
What Canada does have going for it is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
“We expect good things to come from that,” he said.
He said tariffs are coming down in South Korea, and Canadian pork will be competitive with U.S. pork in that market over the next year or two, so he anticipates a fair amount of the new injection of $17.6 million will be spent in that market.
“I would expect the Americans to be fairly aggressive there,” said Ketilson.
Japan will be another target market for the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
“That’s certainly a market they’ll be after because it’s a good market with high value,” he said.
Canada accounts for 48 percent of fresh chilled pork exports to that market compared to 52 percent for the U.S. Canada has picked up about five to six percentage points the last few years.
“Our guys are very competitive. We’ve got a very good product,” said Ketilson.
“The consumer is the one who makes the choices and so far, we’ve been able to hold our own and do well.”
