The revised NAFTA is only the latest to give up a slice of Canada’s market to foreign farmers.
Under the new U.S.–Mexico–Canada trade agreement, not only did Canadian dairy farmers lose an additional 3.6 per cent of their market, the new deal also imposes unprecedented export controls and ends a dairy ingredient pricing system that was helping dairy processors compete without using cheap American imports.
An organization representing dairy farmers is getting a feeling of déjà vu.
Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia says for the third time in a row, the federal government has negotiated a trade deal giving more access to Canada’s dairy market.
Brian Cameron, the general manager of the group tells Acadia News there will be a cumulative effect.
“Once everything is in place, we estimate that 18 percent of milk production in Canada will not be needed because it will be represented by imports.”
He says the federal government’s talk of compensation is “quite hollow.”
Cameron says they did a compensation package for the dairy industry under CETA, the European trade deal, which he said was a flop.
