Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance to push for free trade despite U.S. tariffs

The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance says it will continue its advocacy for free and open trade in the agriculture and agri-food industries, despite the imposition of U.S. tariffs.

“We will not relent until order is restored to our integrated North American market,” said CAFTA president Greg Northey.

U.S. president Donald Trump’s executive order to hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent tariffs across the board, with a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy, took effect at 12:01 EST on March 4.

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CAFTA, which comprises several national agriculture and producer groups, advocates for liberalization of agriculture and agri-food trade, including elimination of tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, the organization’s website says.

CAFTA said U.S. tariffs on agri-food imports from Canada and Mexico is bad news for Americans as well as Canadian and Mexicans.

These tariffs leave businesses and consumers in every country in North America at a disadvantage, Northey said in a news release on Tuesday.

“They increase costs, disrupt supply chains and harm American, Canadian and Mexican consumers and producers,” he added.

The integrated supply chains that are in place in North America are the standard for global trade and provide an avenue for farmers and food producers to remain competitive on the world stage while also keeping the price of products affordable for consumers, CAFTA said.

The tariffs Trump has put in place threaten to dismantle the history of co-operation between North American countries, while also driving up prices, creating instability in the market and putting people’s livelihoods in jeopardy.

The United States’ decision to impose tariffs has weakened all three countries, said Michael Harvey, CAFTA’s executive director.

“CAFTA supports the efforts of the Government of Canada to achieve a lifting of the tariffs and return to focus on a rational, rules-based, free trading system that benefits both producers and consumers, regardless of which side of the border they are on,” Harvey said.