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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Canadian beef and pork exporters have long relied on their U.S. neighbors as solid trading partners, but that relationship has grown increasingly rocky during the contentious renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The uncertainty surrounding the talks and the future of U.S.-Canadian trade has the northern producers looking to Asia, and they like what they see.
The Trump administration has already insisted on renegotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement and the U.S. pact with South Korea (KORUS), but there is no sign that free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama are in jeopardy for the same treatment.
A recently released USDA audit of Brazil's ability to produce safe beef calls into question the country's "equivalency" status that allows it access to the U.S. market, according to government, industry and food safety advocates. At a minimum the audit shows that Brazil still has some serious regulatory hurdles to clear before the country can resume shipping its renowned grass-fed beef cuts to the U.S.
There’s still confusion surrounding whether or not the Department of Agriculture is working to put together a contingency plan to help out farmers if the U.S. pulls out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but experts say such a plan really wouldn’t help much in a worst-case scenario.
It was difficult for much of the U.S. ag sector to watch as President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) about 10 months ago and now the pain is sharpening as the remaining 11 countries appear to be on the verge of ratifying the massive trade pact without one of the founding members.
Any day now, you will know the results of a vote to increase the beef checkoff in Oklahoma, but the uncertainty surrounding how to increase checkoff rates nationally may remain.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2017 – The U.S. and Brazil have clashed often in recent years over trade in everything from cotton to beef to ethanol, but the two ag producing powerhouses continue to dance around the prospects of a binding free trade agreement while quietly laying the building blocks for such a pact.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2017 - The U.S. beef industry continues to improve the quality of its management practices, according to the 2016 National Beef Quality Audit commissioned by the Beef Quality Assurance program.
Washington, Oct. 5, 2017 – Renegotiating trade relationships with countries like Mexico, Canada and South Korea is the major focus of U.S. negotiators now, but the USTR and USDA should not wait to begin making inroads to foreign buyers that could be importing a lot more U.S. wheat, corn, beef, pork and dairy. That was one of the main messages to lawmakers today from Gregg Doud, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the chief agriculture negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative.
