Canada’s ratification of a bilateral trade agreement with Colombia has left U.S. wheat growers ticked off with their government.
The deal was signed by the two governments on June 30, after several years of negotiations and domestic political argument in Canada.
It provides duty-free access for many Canadian products to the growing Colombian market, including many agricultural products such as wheat, barley, pulse crops and beef.
Alan Tracy, president of U.S. Wheat Associates, and Dana Peterson, chief executive officer of the National Association of Wheat Growers, issued a joint statement criticizing the U.S. government for dragging its feet on reaching a similar deal, first promoted by the wheat groups four years ago.
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“The (Canada-Colombia) agreement gives a major wheat-producing competitor an immediate price advantage in a market where U.S. wheat exports had earned a dominant market share,” the wheat industry officials said in their statement.
They said U.S. wheat growers could lose sales currently worth $70 million to Canadian producers, adding that total U.S. agricultural trade with Colombia is worth $1.7 billion a year, including $330 million in wheat.
U.S. trade officials actually negotiated a trade deal with Colombia in 2006, which would provide duty-free access to the South American market, but the deal has been held up in Congress.
