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Bilateral free trade deals
Canada needs its own free-trade deals: CWB makes the case
The CWB and a group of five other concerned Canadian agricultural groups warn that Canada is losing ground in agricultural trade due to bilateral trade deals being aggressively pursued by our international competitors - most notably the United States.
A joint letter (PDF format 74 KB) was sent to the federal government, urgently calling for pursuit of more bilateral trade agreements between Canada and nations representing key markets for Canadian agricultural products. The group has held subsequent meetings to continue its efforts.
The concerned organizations represent more than 30 per cent of Canadian agri-food exports. They are the CWB, the Canola Council of Canada, Pulse Canada, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Canadian Pork Council and Canada Pork International.
Multilateral trade deals, such as those being negotiated at the World Trade Organization, have received much attention, but it is equally important for Canada to vigorously pursue bilateral agreements. It is important to ensure that Canada's agricultural competitors do not gain preferential access to key markets, which could erode Canadian market share and farm income.
In particular, the CWB is concerned about the impact of recent American bilaterals on CWB wheat sales to the Andean countries of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, as well as durum wheat sales to Morocco. Countries targetted by American free-trade agreements could account for more than 30 per cent of Canadian wheat and barley exports.
Morocco, for example, is a key Canadian durum customer, which in 2003-04 accounted for 450 000 tonnes of CWB durum sales - the second-highest volume market. The U.S. now has preferential access on nearly 50 per cent of Moroccan durum import demand, which will extend to nearly 70 per cent of demand by the end of the agreement's implementation period.
This gain in U.S. market share would come directly at the expense of Canada. In South America, the preferential tariffs negotiated by the U.S. for the Andean countries could shut Canadian wheat completely out of that market. These three countries typically buy about one million tonnes a year. The tariff the U.S. is trying to negotiation would cost western Canadian farmers between $34 million and $42.5 million a year.
The CWB is concerned that its intense efforts to develop and retain overseas markets for grain grown in Western Canada not be compromised.