CFA tariff preparation focused on tariff exemptions, producer needs

The long-threatened U.S. tariffs are now in place, and Canada’s agriculture producers are bracing for the impact they will make on the industry.

During the Alberta Federation of Agriculture annual general meeting Mar. 3, Canadian Federation of Agriculture executive director Scott Ross said the CFA has been working for months on a plan to help support the industry and producers around the country, focusing on three main points.

“Rather than focusing on reacting to every single announcement that comes out of the Trump administration and trying to monitor all the different scenarios that could evolve, which are quite complex, we’ve really just focused on engaging members on three areas,” Ross said.

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Canada’s two main canola sector groups say U.S. tariffs will be felt throughout the value chain, on both sides of the border.

They included:

• If Canada is going to respond with tariffs, what are the areas that we need to be avoiding and what is the rationale that we need to ensure we are not putting tariffs on those areas?
• What are some of the areas where we may need to have exemptions to allow certain products to come in tariff free?
• What are the immediate mitigation needs our members are going to have when tariffs come into place?

Ross said in his and other CFA leaders’ discussions with producers, government and experts across the country, they have heard “loud and clear that the hurt will be fairly widespread.”

Producers will need government support

Producers staring down that hurt will need support from their provincial and federal governments, Ross said.

“Some of the key areas we really have focused on and heard from our members as needs that are going to come are things like loan guarantees and liquidity support as well as increased opportunities in market access and looking at where new markets are available,” he said.

“Another key one, of course, is looking at our business risk management programs and what sort of modifications and amendments we can make there. So we’ve put forward a number of ideas, everything from raising the payment limit under AgriStability to the compensation rate, recognizing that there could be widespread impacts here.”

National unity a silver lining

Ross said one surprising result of the U.S. tariff circus that has dominated headlines and boardrooms for months has been the unity it has sparked across the country.

“It sounds cynical to talk about it in this way, but I was attending the prime minister’s summit that was held in Toronto, and the most striking thing that came out of there is the level of national unity this entire situation has created,” he said.

“There are going to be opportunities, I think, in the short-term and medium-term to do things across the federal and provincial governments that might not have been possible in a normal situation.

“It’s something we’re also looking at, therefore, in terms of what are the significant opportunities that we should be addressing to advance our competitiveness and our resilience, recognizing that geopolitical issues continue to arise and have impacts on our sectors. We need to find ways to diversify our markets and, at the same time, strengthen our trade-enabling infrastructure so that we can continue to move product reliably to markets we identify as opportunities.”