Most hog producers are probably sick of the sound of pigs squealing, but there’s one whose squeal should be sweet music in the ears of Canadian hog producers: the U.S. hog industry. (FYI: I like and admire pigs, so don’t think I’m insulting our American friends by slipping them into a hog metaphor.)
We’re making them squeal, by the efforts of our Parliamentarians, who passed the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) last week.
Here’s the headline the U.S. National Pork Producers Council put out after the FTA became almost law : Canada Approves Free Trade Agreement With Colombia, U.S. Pork Producers Lose Out. (I think it still needs royal assent, which perhaps Her Majesty will be able to deliver while she’s here in Canada this week)
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When I was down in Des Moines, Iowa, a couple of weeks ago for the World Pork Expo, a number of NPPC officials warned darkly of U.S. producers losing out in world markets if the U.S. congress doesn’t ratify already-negotiated FTAs. Nick Giordano, NPPC’s international trade expert, became passionately exasperated when talking about the stalled deals – with Panama, Colombia and South Korea – that could add $10 to the value of every U.S. hog produced. Giordano and his colleagues warned that these markets around the world are presently potentially lucrative for American producers, but not if foreign competitors like Canadians get in first. Not only does Canada now have preferential access to Colombia, which will keep out tariffed pork from places like the U.S., but Columbian buyers will develop commercial relationships with Canadians that will keep Canadian pork flowing there even if the U.S. eventually passes its deals.
U.S. President Barack Obama said during Toronto’s excitingly riotous G20 meetings that he is planning to push for implementation of the U.S./South Korea FTA in coming months, something that no doubt delighted Giordano and NPPC when they heard his public statement. That would give the Americans a huge edge in that market if the deal is passed, which is far more important than the Colombian market.
Canada’s attempt to get a deal with South Korea is now being held up by our reluctance to allow free access to our automotive market for Korean manufacturers, and Korea’s unwillingness to allow free access to our beef. So unless we resolve those two issues pretty soon, Obama may get lucky and manage to get Congress to approve the U.S./South Korea FTA.
That would leave us squealing like a pig, and likely putting out a headlined press release like: U.S. Approves Free Trade Deal With South Korea, Canadian Pork Producers Lose Out.
